Teachers urged to face up to Internet challenges

Teachers and parents must stop considering the Internet as something separate from reality, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said.

“You are the same person in the real world as you are online and the same code of ethics must apply for both real-world and virtual scenarios,” Bartolo told the National Digital Literacy Conference that was held to discuss the challenges teachers are facing as a result of the Internet. “We can’t build a fortress around social media. If teachers really want to engage with children, they must get to their level and perhaps start thinking about how social media could be used for educational purposes.”

Meanwhile, Teachers’ Union (MUT) President Kevin Bonello told the conference that educators must start teaching their pupils how to think critically.

“The Internet has given children access to vast amounts of information, some parts of which may contradict each other,” Bonello said. “Censoring information is not the way to go as it could encourage children to rebel and actively seek that information. Instead, we must start teaching them how to think critically and how to look at information in the context in which it was written.”

International electronic safety expert Karl Hopwood said that children, parents and teachers alike must all be trained with regards the consequences of Internet use.

“Teachers must be extremely careful what they and their friends write online,” Hopwood said, citing an incident whereby an applicant was denied a job as a teacher because his past Amazon purchases were viewable online.