New Delhi: NCERT, the education regulatory body has done and has not done for safe online learning in the time of Covid-19. The guidelines have been jointly developed by NCERT and UNESCO India. Identifying the negative impact of cyber bullying on educational achievement, mental health, and quality of life in general, documents released by NCERT advise students on what they should and should not do to stay safe online.
"With COVID-19 closing schools across all states, Education Departments have made efforts to ensure continuity of learning through various digital platforms. Millions of learners are turning to online education and with this comes a huge increase in use of electronic devices and Information and communication Technologies (ICTs)."
Some forms of cyber bullying include posting hurtful comments on updates, pictures, and videos shared by an individual; uploading embarrassing photographs without an individual's consent; excluding individuals of different cultural, socio-economic backgrounds from online groups and forums; and stealing someone's account password and sending unwanted/inappropriate messages from that account to harass other individuals.
With the massive switch to online methods of learning, students are at greater risk of cyber bullying. Online bullying not only affects students, but also prevents teachers from providing quality education through online media.
The 'Do's' include creating a strong password, read privacy settings of social networking sites, communicate only with known people, practice caution while posting photos and videos on social media sites, and ensure that only authorized personnel access computer systems and labs.
The 'Don'ts' include keeping your password secret, not revealing personal information like age address etc. as it can lead to identity theft, not posting anything hurtful on social media sites, and not forwarding anything you read on social media without verifying it.
Cyber bullying is a punishable offence under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code and should be reported. Students can download the complete guideline Click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment