Today on EdTechMonday on KT Radion, from left, top Ghislaine Kayigi from the National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA), Yves Himbaza, co-founder & head of product & technology at TWIS Ltd and Nicole Igiraneza Ishimwe, a trainer in Future Coders program at K-Lab will be hosted by Ines Ghislaine. Tune in from 6pm.
Pupils and students are today heading back to school to start the first semester of the 2022/2023 academic year but their safety and what they learn while at school is a key concern for many parents’ minds.
The adoption of e-learning technologies in Africa continues to grow, with reports indicating that the e-learning market in Africa is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.2% during 2022-2027.
This growth, of which Rwanda is part of, has been catalyzed by the proliferation of smartphones and other consumer electronics in the region, along with the rising digitalization in the education sector.
This increased integration of ICT into education has raised concerns from parents, teachers and school management on the dangers the internet poses to learners as they increasingly adopt technology in learning.
These dangers include cyber-bullying, online predators, identity thieves, inappropriate content, sex trafficking and terrorist recruitment and promotion. Moreover, young learners may not always think about the consequences of their actions, which can cause them to share too much information about themselves.
This means that safety is vitally important. Thus the focus of this month will be on internet safety for learners in Africa and how EdTech can not only create awareness, but also help prevent different types of attacks including cyber-attacks, bullying and thefts or conning.
As a result, there is a need to understand the risks and threats to young learners online and how to recognize and counteract them (protection mechanisms); the legal and ethical requirements placed upon teachers to keep students and their information safe and secure; strategies for making classrooms safe and secure for students’ online activities; and the role of parents and caregivers in protecting their children as they study online.
The September EdTech Monday Episode that will be aired this evening on KTradio and live on Kigali Today YouTube channel will focus on enhancing the safety of learners on the internet at school or outside school.
September Panelists
To get a good understanding of this topic, KT channels will host 3 panelists and one journalist to moderate the discussions on the topic of the day: “Using EdTech to Enhance the Internet Safety for Learners”.
These panelists will include: Ghislaine Kayigi, the Chief Cyber Security Standards Officer at the National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA); Yves Himbaza, Co-founder & Head of Product and Technology TWIS Ltd; Nicole Igiraneza Ishimwe, a trainer in Future Coders Program at kLab Rwanda.
NCSA will explore the definition of “Internet safety for learners”, unique dangers do online learners face vis-à-vis in-person learners, and whose responsibility is it to protect online learners and what should schools do to enhance internet safety for learners?
Future Coders Program, will explore the support teachers need to enable them to keep their students safe online, lack of digital literacy skills among parents in Africa, how they can play a role in keeping their children safe online as they learn. Also touch on mostly distracts online learners and how can a teacher/trainer/parents make sure that the learners are not distracted online?
TWIS will showcase what Ed-Tech companies do to support safety for online students and support a range of stakeholders (parents, teachers – etc) and balance the need for online safety with requirements for data privacy according to their EdTech solutions?
EdTech Mondays is an integrated, Africa-wide conversation aired monthly on CNBC Africa and Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works Facebook Page in in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria, in partnership with local EdTech support organizations, disseminate the discussions that drive innovative use of technology to improve teaching and learning in secondary education.
