Recently, Kaspersky released results from a survey it conducted between April and May of this year. The survey looked to identify the technical challenges families faced while having to work and learn from home.

The highlight from the results of that survey revealed that 54 percent of South African families with two or more children had to buy or rent additional hardware so that their children could participate in remote learning.

Furthermore, Kaspersky found that as many as 70 percent of South African children used a smartphone for remote learning.

“The mass enforced transition to remote learning brought about difficulties not only in terms of mastering the curriculum, but also technical issues. Many families had to purchase additional devices or borrow them from friends or the school if it offered this option, as well as install programs and regularly solve Internet issues. This proved difficult for parents and children alike. But I’d like to hope that the experience gained from deep immersion in the online world will help us take a fresh look at the traditional offline learning format and use more effective digital tools,” notes head of Kaspersky’s Online Child Safety Department, Andrey Sidenko.

We can’t mention the proliferation of online education without mentioning how big of a target it has become for cybercrime.

Just last week we featured a report from Check Point as well as tracking done by Microsoft as regards the most targeted sectors for cybercrime. Education is the most popular target for cybercriminals and it may be worth spending time on educating students, teachers and parents about good cybersecurity practices.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]