Even before the pandemic, parents were looking for online sites where the kids could learn. You know, for the heat-wave or cold-wave days, when going out is not appealing, and screen time with some learning thrown in seems so much better than more hours of watching (or digitally being) superheroes or flying unicorns. But now with the sudden onset of Covid -19 and the resulting shelter in place directions and school closures, parents, as well as teachers, have been scrambling to find and deliver online activities for the kids. And, given where we are now, though it is unclear when and how schools will reopen, it looks highly likely online learning is going to continue in some form.

Many parents, at least those with the capacity to do so, are searching for online offerings on their own to keep their kids learning and, to be frank, to keep them engaged and occupied as they can’t play sports, play with friends, go to an art class or do many of the activities they would have normally done. With summer camps either closed or dramatically reduced, it is most likely that parents will continue with some online options for kids, especially for academic programs.

This provides a great business opportunity for many, and that is essentially a good thing, but unfortunately it does not guarantee that every online program for your child, whether it is content or a tool or both, is safe for kids to interact with on their own. Private, for-profit companies that offer online tutoring/mentoring or other educational services have to meet the guidelines of the state boards of education and school districts. But if they are consumer focused and selling directly to parents, they are often leaving it up to the parent to verify suitability. It is up to the parents to select apps that they would feel comfortable letting the kids use on their own, and up to the teachers/school administrators to confirm that platforms they use to reach and teach their students are effective as well as safe.

Here are some tips to guide you on what you should look for when selecting online programs for your kids outside of what’s required for your child’s school (note: some of these criteria are slightly different for school-supported online programs.)

(So why do I care about this? Full disclosure: I founded, and run, meemli.org a nonprofit that has an online learning platform to connect teachers and mentors with students to help improve education equity, and we care deeply about protecting kids’ safety and privacy.)

Privacy

You’d think this is a no-brainer, but most of us tend to just click “agree” when presented with a bunch of obscure text on what a company’s privacy laws are about so we can get to the app. We’re adults, and if we choose to take the risk because we’re lazy or in a hurry, that’s up to us. But if it’s your child using the app, it’s a good time to pause and actually read the text.

Paying attention to privacy is pretty much paying attention to what data is collected and how is it shared. Do you want data collected on your child’s online actions which can be identified to the user (your child)? Do you want that data to be sold to other entities? No? If so, see what you can turn off without losing the functionality of the app. If that is not possible, find another option (and lodge a complaint!).

Also consider the data needed for registration. What is being required to get an account for the app? Ideally, for younger children, you should be signing up with your own email address. It might make sense, depending on the app, to share the grade and approximate age, or anything related to the app’s services (e.g. skill level for language apps), but be careful if the child’s personal information like date of birth is requested and stored.

Collecting data about your child and sharing it with advertisers or other entities is a major issue. Consumer groups are charging TikTok with violating children’s privacy as TikTok is hugely popular for with kids for fun and also used by some teachers in learning. But this could be a practice with smaller companies too as selling data is a way to generate revenue so the “watchdog” may have to be you!

Privacy

Your child’s safety depends on their online interactions: who do they interact with and how.

If your child is not interacting with a person in any way, but is just watching a video or playing a solo game or clicking on multiple choice questions on quizzes (yes, they’re still there!), it’s probably pretty safe. As long as you have taken care of the privacy concerns and your device is protected (see below) you do not have to worry that much about the who and instead you can focus on the quality of the content.

But, if your child is connecting with a live person, then it’s important to know both the person’s credentials and how your child will be interacting with them. Schools (at least public schools) routinely require anyone who provides services to students, including volunteers, to go through a full background check before they can go onsite and work with them. Unfortunately, with the many amazingly useful connectivity features of remote learning tools, it is quite possible for ill-intentioned people to harm your child even if they don’t meet with them in person.

• Is that person trustworthy? If it is someone you know well (for example, your child’s tutor who is now doing remote sessions while sheltering in place), that might be alright. If it is a tutor or mentor from an online educational service, find out their credentials. Have they been background checked? Some organizations connect kids seeking homework help to college students, without any verification other than their college email address. Parents need to remember that just being in college doesn’t make someone automatically safe enough to interact with their child without supervision.

• How is that person interacting with your child? If it is in a group and never alone, video may be acceptable if the person has exceptional credentials, otherwise, avoid video unless you’re willing and able to be present in the room with your child. And even it it’s in a group, make sure the videos are not recorded when children are onscreen.

• Screen sharing. Similar to video, avoid situations that involve screen sharing as there’s the potential to share unacceptable material — unless once again, you’re willing to stay and monitor the interactions.

• If your child will be working on a shared whiteboard, it is safer to have the interactions recorded.

• If the child can communicate to the adult through messaging, make sure it is done through an app that masks their private contact information, or just use your own for the app and of course messages should be recorded.

And one more thing that should not be new to you, be careful what you download and where you download it from and keep your virus protection up to date.

Remote Schooling

When “schooling” is partially or even fully online due to circumstances like the pandemic, the situation is different. The school often provides the tools/platform for the student’s learning, and assigns teachers to do the classes and guide the student.

In this case, the “who” is a credentialed and fully background checked adult, who would normally be teaching onsite so you can be more comfortable with tools like videoconferencing. The tools are often approved by school districts, though there might be some flexibility for teachers to add other tools if within guidelines (private schools may have more flexibility).

Even so, there have been issues with some tools (like the much-reported instances of “zoombombing” online classrooms), though it is mostly a reminder to pay extra attention to safety and privacy when business tools meant for professional use have been hastily co-opted for remote schooling. It has prompted the FBI to put out guidelines for protecting kids during online learning. As all this is new to school administrators and teachers too, parents should not assume “everything is covered” just because the school recommends an app and it is not paranoid for parents to take a proactive approach in verifying how it will work for their children.

Taking Action

So given all the gotchas you’ve got to watch out for, how do you verify if a learning app or tool is acceptable for your child? Do you need to be a techie to do this?

• If you’re reading this post, you’re most likely capable of doing a little research on your own and no, you don’t have to be a techie. But you can get more done if you can team up with other parents who care and spread the work of checking out the apps. Bonus: working with other parents makes it easier to share recommendations and even influence school/teacher choices if it becomes necessary.

• There are many organizations that review kids apps, for example CommonSense Media, which can make the checking easier.

• You can always contact the app company directly for specifics if you need them.

• Be proactive in dealing with other impacts too, for example, your kids finding Zoom meetings uncomfortable or just getting tired with all the remote schooling. Apparently videoconferences can be stressful for kids (as well as for adults) so if necessary, be your child’s advocate with the teacher/school and work together to figure out how virtual classes can be made effective, not enervating.

• For extra credit, teach your child about why online privacy and safety matter so they can learn to make the right choices when they’re online all by themselves!

The good news is that all this is doable. There are many people who’re doing good work in protecting kids online, all you have to do is get informed and pay attention to what your child is using. Online learning is here to stay and you can feel confident that with more parental (and teacher) involvement the solutions are only going to get better!

Originally published at https://blog.usejournal.com on June 3, 2020.