The Internet Society (ISOC) Uganda Chapter has organized two workshops for teachers slated for Friday 9th October 2020 and Saturday 10th October 2020 at Makerere College School, Kampala. The workshops are aimed at promoting digital safety for educators in times of pandemics, and are part of the international Chapterthon project.
The Covid-19 pandemic forced closure of schools in many countries including Uganda. With schools closed, and an uncertainty about the actual date when they will open, the government and schools were forced to rely on the use of digital platforms to deliver learning materials to the learners. This has placed an extraordinary strain on the education system and further unsettling an already struggling system especially in rural areas where access to the internet is still a challenge. Nonetheless, as educators cope with the new normal in navigating different digital platforms to deliver learning to their students, there is an urgent need to enhance their digital skills especially digital safety.
Also Read: 10 Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety Tips for Teachers and Schools (With Poster)
In Uganda, we have witnessed a number of primary and secondary schools start online teaching as a response to the pandemic. Teachers in some of the schools, such as Kampala Parents School, had to first undergo training on how to use the technology. However, many other teachers are not aware of the cyber security issues associated with online teaching.
The Internet society seeks to empower educators with digital skills to enable them to safely navigate the digital educational system created by covid-19 pandemic.
Training Objectives
The goal is to grow the knowledge and capacity of educators in digital safety by acclimatizing them with the use of digital tools and platforms securely. Specifically the project objectives include:-
1. Document digital safety risks among educators
2. Raise awareness about digital safety among educators
3. Build the capacity of educators in digital safety
This will further improve the use of ICT to educate and securely deliver education services in Uganda.
Participants
Target participants are teachers from different education institutions who are interested in building their knowledge and capacity while safely delivering education services to their students. The Internet Society made a call for expression of interest which was sent out to several teacher networks for them to apply.
Expected outcome
The training will benefit the community and contribute to the enhancement of the use of ICT to educate and securely deliver education services in Uganda.
This is expected to be a continuous engagement across the entire country while identifying digital safety risks faced by educators/teachers due to covid-19, while providing solutions to how they can mitigate these risks.
About Internet Society Uganda Chapter
The Internet Society Uganda Chapter is part of the Internet Society (https://www.internetsociety.org/), a global organization with over 100 organisations and more than 44,000 individual members in over 80 Chapters around the world. The Chapter is registered as a non-for-profit organization in Uganda working toward promoting open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people in Uganda. New members are welcome to join the Society by registering on their website at isoc.ug.
Article By Mukalele Rogers
National Coordinator – ITAU
Tel/WhatsApp: +256776960740/+256706060740
