The pandemic has negatively affected education as well as many other areas of life. Students cannot continue their formal education regularly as they did before the pandemic, and they also experience adaptation problems in distance education.
The pandemic has negatively affected education as well as many other areas of life. Students cannot continue formal education on a regular basis as they did before the pandemic, and they also experience adaptation problems in distance education. Experts state that in order for students to pay attention in distance education, lesson durations should be a maximum of 20-30 minutes and frequent breaks of 15 minutes should be given. In addition, experts state that children should wake up early in the morning, as they did before the pandemic, and after breakfast, parents and teachers should ensure that they sit at the classroom in school-appropriate clothes.
Dr. Neriman Kilit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist at Üsküdar University NP Feneryolu Medical Center, shared important information on how children will succeed in the distance education system, which is compulsory due to the pandemic.
The message should be given that your vacation is over, the lesson has started
Stating that children should sleep at a certain time and wake up at a certain time as if they were going to school, Dr. Neriman Kilit said, "They should be made to have breakfast at the same time they wake up, and if possible, wear their school uniforms before going to their tablets or computers. Children usually object to this. However, instead of going to classes in pajamas or tracksuits, we recommend that they at least wear a casual outfit. Here, the child should be given the message that the vacation is over and school has started. They should be told that the lessons they see when they go to school are no different from the lessons they see now, and that they should bear the same responsibility."
Pandemic changed the education routine
Pointing out that the distance education system has some disadvantages, especially for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Kilit said: "These children need a certain discipline system and routine. Therefore, for these children, even waking up in the morning, changing their clothes after waking up and going to school was a routine system and provided discipline. However, this situation has disappeared with the pandemic. They used to study in classroom environments where there were not many sounds, that is, external stimuli, but now they study in home environments and all kinds of sounds can be distracting stimuli."
Pay attention to these symptoms!
Prof. Dr. Neriman Kilit said, 'Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder is a psychiatric disorder that we think has a genetic background and this has been proven by studies:
"It is mainly related to the dopamine distribution system in the brain. We can talk about attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder in children who have difficulty sitting still from the 1st grade of primary school, who cannot listen to the lesson for more than 5 minutes, who do not want to study for more than 5 minutes at home and refuse school, who constantly need to move around, who are easily distracted while studying, who constantly interrupt others while they are talking and talk about unrelated topics. It is not necessary to have both hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder at the same time."
Lesson times should be kept short!
Kilit, who considers it a good practice not to keep the duration of the lessons too long, said, "For children who already have attention deficit and hyperactivity, we are talking about being able to maintain and control their attention for a short time. 40 minutes is too long for distance education. We recommend this time to be between 20-30 minutes and frequent breaks. However, keeping the breaks too long can sometimes cause distraction. We think that a break of around 10-15 minutes may be appropriate. It is important not to keep class times too long and to take frequent breaks."
The learning environment at home is very important
Stating that it would be useful to ventilate the room where they listen to the lessons beforehand, Kilit said, "In a narrow and stuffy environment, especially children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder can be distracted more quickly. Afterwards, it needs to be made quiet. For example, a living room where television is watched will not be suitable for lessons because silence should be ensured. It is important that the chairs and the table are in a certain order. Care should be taken to ensure that there are no objects to distract them. Purifying the room from their favorite toys will also be beneficial in this sense."
Parents should make an agreement with their children
Dr. Neriman Kilit concluded her words by saying that especially mothers being with their children during lessons is of course not in line with the education system they have been used to until now:
"Families mention that their children can download program pages and open games from the device during distance education class time. Both teachers and parents have an important task. Here, it should be absolutely understood with the children that they should not have a second device such as a cell phone, other than the device on which the lesson is being followed, and that they should not download the pages used while listening to the lesson and play games. The internet packages used can be restricted by filtering the sites they can access. Although it may seem like an advantageous method at first glance to create a control mechanism by constantly sitting next to the child, it also has disadvantages both in terms of the child's self-confidence and in terms of reaching an agreement with the child and showing that they are trusted."
