A new approach to digital literacy for children

UNESCO and UNICEF are calling for education to protect children’s health in the digital age. Because digital health helps children balance screen time, stay safe online and form healthy, long-term technology habits.

A RCTIC EDUCATION: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS

Today, children grow up in a world filled with apps, social media, and artificial intelligence (AI), engaging in the process of forming habits, learning, playing, and communicating. Helping children use technology safely, creatively, and responsibly has become a global priority.

Arctic Education's trial class in Vietnam

PHOTO: ARCTIC EDUCATION

A pioneering initiative in this field is the Digital Competency Programme of Arctic Education, a member of Education Finland. After 3 years of successful pilot implementation in Finland, India and Vietnam, the programme is now officially introduced widely. What is special is that the programme is not only child-centered, but also compatible with UNESCO and UNICEF frameworks on education and child welfare.

WHY IS DIGITAL LITERACY EDUCATION IMPORTANT?

Passive use of technology by children can lead to a number of problems, such as excessive device use that can impact children’s health and learning, and a lack of skills to use it safely. Exposure to cyberbullying, unfriendly behaviour on social media, and misinformation or bias further complicates children’s digital experiences. At the same time, inequality in access to technology creates unfair gaps between peers.

Arctic Education offers a solution with a systematic learning path, helping children become confident and responsible digital citizens. The goal of the program is to help children become active, responsible participants in the digital world, rather than just passive users of digital devices and technology .

The program aims to provide children with a fun, inquisitive early foundation, helping them explore technology with confidence and care, sparking their own interest in computer science, programming and artificial intelligence - laying the foundation for further learning and even a career in the digital field.

P UNIQUE TEACHING METHOD

Inspired by proven pedagogical practices being used in Finnish preschool and primary education systems, Arctic Education designs programs that give every child the opportunity to build digital skills early in a safe and human-centered way.

The program incorporates six research-based approaches (known as the “Snowflake approach”): Story-based learning; Creative learning; Pedagogical play; Collaborative learning; Reflective learning; and Social-emotional learning (SEL).

This combination creates a learning environment for children where learning is not limited to information technology, but also develops transversal competencies that support learning in other subjects.

KNOWLEDGE AREAS OF DIGITAL COMPETENCE A RCTIC

Arctic Digital Literacy is a program for preschoolers (3-5 years old) and primary schoolers (6-10 years old) that uses almost no screens or devices, instead being hands-on experiences through the characters Spark, Ada, and Nova. The six learning areas include: computers, internet, computational thinking, digital health, digital storytelling, and artificial intelligence. It is a foundation for children to develop digital skills while nurturing creativity, empathy, and problem-solving.

Arctic Education's teaching and learning materials

Of the six areas, Digital Wellbeing is particularly relevant to the UNESCO and UNICEF vision. Children learn how to balance screen time with physical activity, identify and respond to online risks, develop respect and kindness in the digital environment, and develop long-term healthy technology habits.

In Vietnam, the program is particularly meaningful because of its screen-less design, suitable for both schools with and without technology resources. The content also complements the national education program, especially with lessons on safety, ethics, digital health and AI.

ACCOMPANYING TEACHERS

A core part of Arctic Education’s mission is to support teachers. The program provides comprehensive training, ready-to-use lesson plans and classroom materials to help teachers confidently deliver digital literacy concepts. Furthermore, the pedagogical approaches are designed to be transferable and applicable across the curriculum. This means teachers not only have more tools to teach digital literacy, but also improve their teaching practice in a way that benefits all areas of learning.

With Arctic Education, children are nurtured to become independent thinkers, creative storytellers and responsible digital citizens.

They learn to balance screen time with movement, information and imagination, curiosity and responsibility. In classrooms across Vietnam and many other countries, teachers and students are finding that, when implemented with dedication, digital literacy is not just a learning tool, but also a gateway to a proactive, creative and exciting future.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-cach-tiep-can-moi-ve-nang-luc-so-cho-tre-em-1852511142011025.htm