6 April 2021
At the start of the Movement Control Order (MCO) last year, all students in Malaysia has been ushered into a new era of digital learning. The Ministry of Education revealed that classes taught online and at home are less effective as compared to face-to-face learning. And the Education Minister acknowledged that the change is something new not only for the students, but for the parents and teachers as well.
However, to overcome challenges in conducting home-based learning, many teachers in Malaysia have embraced technologies such as messaging apps to support one another as well as to track the progress of their students.
Technology enables education to continue in a world still reeling with the pandemic. It relieves physical distance by allowing human communication despite isolation and social distancing. By now, kids would have come to realize that the computer is not just a means of entertainment but an important tool for education, communication, and personal growth.
According to Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, he is really encouraged and motivated with how Malaysian teachers, parents and students are adjusting to the new normal with a possible attitude, albeit the difficulties. “Kids watching videos may not necessarily be something negative, because they could be eager to learn new things such as science experiments, computer coding, and more,” he notes.
“Some students and parents may be with the opinion that home-based learning is difficult, but we learn that some are really enjoying what the technology is exposing them to. We have to give credit to how Malaysian parents, teachers and the government who are all working so hard to make this situation a productive for the stay-at-home learners. Notably, the Ministry of Education in Malaysia has setup Portal EduwebTV to compliment the home-based learning, as some families have difficulty in terms of internet connectivity and shortage of computer devices. When the devices are available at home, especially for families who are sharing one computer, the kids will tune in to such portal to stream the classes,” says Yeo.
Data compiled by Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) confirmed that 42.5% of the time kids spent online in 2020, were on watching videos and listening to music. KSN also showed that kids spent 23% of their time communicating with their peers using the online messaging and email services. 22% were on computer games.
While only a little portion, Kaspersky in 2020 still blocked some Malaysian kids’ attempt to visit websites related to dangerous content such as pornography (0.10%), weapons (0.06%), internet gambling (0.03%) and drugs (0.02%).
“The children of today started interacting with technology at an early age, and do not know a world without the Internet, computers and mobile devices. With the onset of the pandemic, their exposure and intertwinement of technology in their lives is now more so than ever - be it for learning or leisure. As they live in the age of the Internet, it is our responsibility to ensure that we provide a safe space for them to learn and grow, and to protect them from exposure to negative content and vices that are rampant on the Web,” he adds.
Kaspersky shares some good tips for parents:
- Spend more time communicating with your children about online safety measures. Tell your children what must not, under any circumstances, be published on the Internet and why.
- Surf and learn together. See where they spend their time online and explore how to best keep them safe. Also spending time to play online games, so you can learn from each other.
- Explain that all the sensitive information can be shared only via messengers and only with people you know in real life.
- And yes, we do recommend parents to install a cybersecurity software like Kaspersky Total Security to protect their kids against online threats. Kaspersky is offering a three-month free trial of Kaspersky Total Security, available through this link https://bit.ly/safekids011.
On a lighter note, Kaspersky is back with its TRANSFORMERs: War For Cybertron Trilogy offer from 15 February 2021 till 31 March 2021. The popular series is back on Netflix. With purchase of selected limited-edition Kaspersky X Transformers products, the customer will enjoy 1-month free Netflix subscription with a chance to win a 1-year subscription by participating in an online contest.
To know more about this promotion, visit https://www.lazada.com.my/shop/kaspersky/ or https://shopee.com.my/kaspersky.os.
Find out more about the latest Kaspersky’s Kids on the Web report here: https://securelist.com/how-kids-coped-with-covid-hit-winter-holidays/100450/
About the statistics
Kaspersky Safe Kids scans the contents of a Web page the child is trying to access. If the site falls into one of fourteen undesirable categories, the module sends an alert to Kaspersky Security Network. No user’s personal information is transmitted and neither is privacy compromised.
We will note two important points:
- It is up to the parent to decide which content to block by tweaking the protective solution’s preferences. But anonymous statistics are collected for all the 14 categories.
- Data is harvested only from computers running Windows and macOS; no mobile statistics are provided in this report.
Kaspersky Safe Kids filters Web content according to the following categories:
- Internet communication
- Adult content
- Alcohol, tobacco, narcotics
- Violence
- Weapons, explosives, pyrotechnics
- Profanity
- Gambling, lotteries, sweepstakes
- Computer games
- E-tailers, banks, and payment systems
- Software, audio, video
- Anonymous access systems
- Job search
- Religion, religious associations
- News media
About Kaspersky
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.
