I bet you’ve come across some predictive memes that children in the future shall only get to find hard copies of books in museums, and they’ll be amazed when they learn that we used to simply flip the pages, not scroll.
Besides the numerous advantages of mobile gadgets in studying, there are a few challenges that may make it hard or even impossible for children to use these gadgets for study, and since they are faced with tons of information, let’s delve into the challenges and how to possibly solve them.
1. Distractions
1. Distractions when using electronic gadgets to study online. [Image/Courtesy]Updates from Facebook, a new video on youtube. Check this out. Buy this, buy that. Cheap offers, et cetera… Every day, mobile phone users are bombarded by a handful of adverts that sometimes, adults even succumb to the temptation to get distracted. For the young ones, they might not need all this to get distracted. They might think of uploading “Just one photo” or writing “Just one tweet” and end up giving up the entire hour online. They do this subliminally, as their minds try to postpone huge tasks.
Parents/guardians should be around to monitor their children as they use these study sites so that they don’t divert themselves from their own topics of study. Also, locking other applications and only opening one that’s meant for the study is a great technique.
2. Wrong Information
2. Access to wrong information online. [Image/Courtesy]Back in 2011, I would take all the information I found on google as the plain truth because maybe I didn’t think of how free everyone was, to post whatever they liked and felt they knew. This made me and other people like me, prone to wrong information until I got to lose that mindset.
The same thing is true with children that constantly use Google and Youtube as centers of learning. They are easily susceptible to bumping into the wrong information, or simply being clickbait all the time.
To help them, encourage them to simply examine everybody’s perception and not just those that they feel well sugarcoated so that they can find those points where different bloggers find a middle ground.
3. The Porn Trap
3. Risk of accessing adult content online while studying. [Image/Courtesy]If there’s one thing that you’d not want your child to bump into while they’re still young, it is pornography. The growth of numerous pornography sites has laid a huge trap that even the young adults fall into, and later engage in a lifelong battle to extricate themselves from it. These sites may show up randomly as pop-up ads or even your child’s peers may send these links to them, but here are the solutions.
Sign your child’s device into their own email address. This will show that they are under age and google will automatically deny them access to some sites.
Set a time limit to their online research so that they have no time to waste.
Monitor your children’s gadgets, or literally stalk them just to find out how many sites they run into.
4. Clumsiness
4. Clumsiness during the study. [Image/Courtesy]Perhaps at this time, you’re not ready for the “Sorry mum, I dropped it” kind of statements. Some children play a lot, are careless, or might choose to walk while scrolling down the gadget. In a situation where they are using your personal gadget, you are not ready to lose it to their carelessness, or you may not have money to replace it yet. And even though you can replace it, they have to learn to be careful anyway.
Limit their movements while they’re using these gadgets, set strict rules and penalties once these devices are damaged so that they’re afraid of being penalized.
5. Time limits
5. Poor time management during online learning. [Image/Courtesy]To be honest, it becomes really hard sometimes to determine and decide that we’ve had enough of the internet, social media, video games, as long as we’re having fun. The same thing applies to children. You are the one to limit them or else, their eyes, necks and probably their heads will hurt.
Let them know that the gadgets are available and can be used every single day, so they don’t have to use them like they’re fulfilling their last wish.
Plus, time limits reduce the chances of your child getting distracted every now and then because they have no time to waste.
6. How to use the device
6. Children need help on how to set up and use electronic gadgets for online learning. [Image/Courtesy]Sometimes we think that since our children can read and cram our lock patterns just by peering as we use, it means they know everything about the device. Sometimes, this makes them fail to speak up even when they find a challenge somewhere because they believe they can possibly handle it on their own. Therefore, they need to be taught how to properly use these devices and also encouraged to ask for help when the need arises.
7. Replacing books
7. Children could completely replace books with electronic gadgets. [Image/Courtesy]Given all the advantages of electronic devices as far as study is concerned, students at any level may always prefer to use these gadgets. However, it may not be a good thing for the future of education if the books are totally forsaken, because they have numerous benefits that these gadgets don’t have, and they can stand the test of time. Children have to be advised to against throwing the books away because, with one fall, a gadget can get destroyed.
Conclusion;
Have you watched the “Transcendence” movie? I love to think of the possibility that we can use laptops as play tools and smartphones to hold our loose doors, just in case something goes wrong with the servers somewhere. However, this can never happen to books. So, I think besides respect, we have to love books, especially the hard copies because once published, information can’t be edited or deleted by simply pushing one button.
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