In recognizing the need of students to be safe online and empowered in an increasingly digital world digital literacy goes beyond know-how. This encompasses their play, participation, socializing, searching and learning through digital technologies, After the intense training of the 20 SOS diplomats conducted by Tech & Media Convergency through its program women at web Tanzania, digital skills reach out was done to four secondary schools in Dar es salaam Tanzania and made a total of 700 students reached.
The intention was providing awareness to students so as to build a foundation in understanding their digital rights and how to navigate on the space, examining the schools’ policies in having programs that help equip students to be digital netizens and having data on secondary students’ engagements online and the challenges that they incur when it comes to engagements.
About the Digital skills outreach to secondary schools
Women at web program through its ambassador officially started the secondary schools’ outreach to enhance students to develop new digital skills at an earlier age, awareness of laws governing space to student, increasing online safety and improve digital equity.
Implementing digital literacy outreach effectively requires more than simply importing a good approach from elsewhere. Beyond choosing a framework, an integrated approach to digital literacy involves undertaking a preliminary diagnostic review of the local context, developing operationalization guidelines and conducting impact assessments.
The implementing approach
Women at web program believes there is a need to focus more on digital literacy for student and also who have unique needs to ensure inclusivity, from learning how to switch it on through to staying safe online, and then navigating their way through fake news, creating and interpreting content, social media, physiological safety and screen time – and, finally, knowing when to turn the device off. student need to be able to master a range of vital skills and digital resilience. SOS diplomats organized four school outreaches.
- Shaaban Robert School outreach. To view click HERE
- Buguruni Viziwi school outreach. To view click HERE
- Bunju A Secondary School outreach. To view click HERE
- Mbezi Beach High School outreach. To view click HERE
The outreach covered on how providing them with valuable information and knowledge on how to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly.
Discussion Themes:
- Safe online space and analyzing of the terms related to online (cyber) space, safe space
- Identifying social media platforms and how to use them safely.
- Laws governing digital space
- Digital Citizenship and digital rights
- Digital opportunities and branding one’s self online
Highlights from the outreach
Students in all schools showed cooperation and were very excited to learn about the digital skills and free to share challenges that they encounter while using digital platforms. Teachers encouraged that digital skills outreach should not end but rather it should be conducted frequently in schools and advised a lot of schools will need this kind of education to be provided to students thus will enlighten students about the digital technology therefore will protect them from harm and enable them acquire new opportunities.
We acknowledge that this is a conversation that needs to be pushed forward and include media owners in creating friendly policies that would protect and favor both parties in relation to online violence against women and gender-based violence