Guarding against online unknowns

By Simon John

Less than a year ago, who would have thought that Hong Kong’s parents, teachers and students would become veritable virtuosos of online learning? In the process, what traps have they been trying to avoid?

With schools closed and students kept at home, demands for online learning have spiked across the territory. Everyone has been hastily familiarizing themselves with various e-learning tools and it has been quite a challenge. Issues that we weren’t properly prepared for have arisen in the rush to create the illusion of life as normal, so it seems sensible to remember a few things we can do to ensure we are navigating educational cyberspace as responsibly as possible.

Logging off and signing out

Google classroom. Zoom. Skype: e-learning requires online platforms and that means being signed in to a multitude of different sites at any one time. This is something many of us are used to as far as google accounts are concerned, but leaving a litany of accounts open when they aren’t being used is unwise.* as you would when logging out of your personal online bank accounts: close down after use.

Webcam-woes

A class conducted via webcam invites a whole host of problems into the learning equation. Laggy connections and problems with audio-visual synchronicity can foster an incredibly frustrating experience for both teacher and student alike. Invasive screen grabs of less than flattering images of oneself can also do the rounds.

While these issues are irritating, they don’t tend to do much damage other than to one’s patience (or ego!). However, it is important to remember that webcams aren’t responsive to actions within the browser and so do not turn off automatically when a lesson is over. This wouldn’t be such a problem were webcams not notoriously easy to hack.

This is largely because of the transmission of files through different mechanisms. With personal computers being used in many cases, we can’t be entirely sure malware isn’t being inadvertently circulated. Logging out of applications can also prevent the snooping of active cookie data open in browsers or windows by bad online actors. Controlling the hardware is the only way to keep yourself safe from prying eyes so shut down the computer or physically close your laptop lid after the session. If you are using a tablet device, place a piece of tape over the lens. If the next friend you chat with on facetime is greeted by a barely visible frosty blur, they’ll be quick to point it out.

We would therefore be wise to take a few seconds to log out of e-learning accounts before we close all devices at the end of each session. This goes for browsers too. Many people think that having different browsers open means information is restricted to the active browser in use. Actually, they all link to the same “family” of browser, so if you are on less secure sites in one browser this may compromise the security of the browser being used for study. The best approach is to proceed

Firewalls and passwords

For many students and teachers, learning online is more distracting than learning in the classroom. An innocent enough comment in a lesson can spawn an Alice-inWonderland-like departure from concentration on the topic you are trying to teach as everyone searches out definitions, examples or clarifications online.

The real concern is that the attention of students will wane and their desire to explore other things will take hold. A simple way to prevent this is to add particular sites to your browser’s firewall, avoiding overkill if possible. Sensible restrictions can prevent distracting sites from being active on the desktop and help students to stay focused.

All the online learning websites, portals and programmes require passwords and profiles. If you have a young child and are creating logins on their behalf, be sure to use passwords that are different to other accounts you have online. Services like LastPass will autogenerate passwords that satisfy the various security requirements when creating new profiles or accounts and Google Keep is a great place to store the passwords as a back-up.

Class conduct

Maintaining interest and focus amongst 20 or more youngsters in real-life classrooms is an ambitious task. It doesn’t become any easier online. In fact, teachers in traditional classrooms act as mediators or guides as well as educators, keeping students on track and easing tensions. Online, this role is massively diluted.

Without the teacher’s real presence, the behaviour of students can be difficult to monitor but while learning may have moved online, the same personality clashes and peer dynamics continue to pervade the learning environment. It’s important, therefore, that parents check how students are doing. Though they may not have left the house, they have been involved in interactions with teachers and classmates over the course of the day. Not all of them may have been positive. An innocent “how was it online today?” will keep the online experiences feeling more relevant to real life and give children the chance to discuss any personal worries.

The first term of 2020 has certainly been one for the books! As we grapple with the new online learning reality, let’s all do what we can to make the experience as smooth as possible.

Simon John, a regular contributor to Youth Hong Kong is the founder of CICERO Study Solutions, an edugaming* enterprise that brings together videogaming with traditional areas of study.

* Edugaming is learning through videogames.