Representatives of the .ДЕТИ told the teaching’ community about interactive projects to improve digital skills among novice internet users.

On September 12, the Russian Civic Chamber hosted the Vasily Sukhomlinsky: Pedagogic Heritage and Up to Date Education national conference dedicated to issues related to family and parental education in the conditions of an information society.

The conference was organized by the Ministry of Education and the National Parents’ Association with support from the Russian Academy of Education and the Moscow State Pedagogical University.

The event was attended by representatives of educational and pre-school organizations and universities as well as public, scientific and research groups working in the area of family, pedagogy and parents’ psychology.

The topics raised during the conference included: education of the individual and the citizen in today’s sociocultural situation as a result of a constructive dialogue between family and school; the borderline between the responsibility of family and school in education and upbringing; the current system of support for parents involved in the upbringing and education of children, the role of family and school in forming and changing the environment in which the child is informed and educated.

Viktoria Bunchuk, project manager for the Smart Internet Foundation (.ДЕТИ domain), presented the organization’s social and educational projects aimed at improving the digital skills of novice internet users and encouraging the competent and ethical use of information technologies.

In particular, Viktoria spoke about Explore the Internet & Govern It! which is implemented with the active support of the foundation’s experts. The project uses an interactive format to help children and teenagers learn how the internet functions, how various online services work and how to protect themselves, their devices and their personal data while using IT. The project includes an educational website, a mobile app for training, an educational quiz, a series of local IT tournaments and the Russian school online championship  Explore the Internet & Govern It! which is held every November. This year, registration for the championship will be open until November 5.

In her speech, Viktoria also mentioned the .ДЕТИ Domain project that is aimed at creating an online space of trust, a safe internet for children and a platform to publish positive content for children, teenagers, parents and teachers. The flagship resources of the domain include: персональныеданные.дети created jointly with the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) to educate children on how to use personal data online; касперский.дети - an educational website on how to behave safely on the internet created by Kaspersky Lab; and библиотека.дети a website launched by the National Electronic Children’s Library and many others. The list of the best .ДЕТИ websites can be found in the Catalogue section on the official website.

“The impact of the national conference can be described in the words of Vasily Sukhomlinsky, a great Soviet teacher and innovator. First, ‘Family is a source of social experience for a child. Here children can find a role model and this is where they are socially born. If we want to raise a morally healthy generation, all of us should solve this problem together,’” Viktoria Bunchuk said. “And second, ‘Successful educational work would be impossible without a system of pedagogic education and the improvement of parents’ pedagogic skills.’ I can add that today’s teachers and parents should remember that it is impossible to prevent the advance of IT. It is necessary to take this into consideration, to make skilful use of its tools and also to teach today’s children and teenagers the responsible use of IT.”