Inclusive Digital Education of Vulnerable Children During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Social Work

Forced to Go Digital?

“…While the role of distance learning in museums had already been a research interest before COVID-19 (Ennes & Lee, 2021), several studies have focused on how the pandemic and the subsequent switch to online education affected museum work, making institutions rethink their digital programming based on the levels of digital access available to their local audiences (Bailey & Sautner, 2021;Kalenda et al, 2022). There is also a fair amount of research (including studies specific to children's museums) that highlight the first-hand experiences of museum educators during this time.…”

“…While children's museums have long been part of the "educational ecosystem," during the pandemic they unequivocally tried to use this position to battle the "digital divide" in education (Zollinger & DiCindio, 2021). The term digital divide originally just referred to the gap between those who do and do not have access to computers and the Internet, but by 2020, it also came to encompass aspects of the quality of access one has to these resources, as well as the digital literacy needed to use them consciously and effectively (Kalenda et al, 2022;van Dijk, 2005;Zollinger & DiCindio, 2021). While the digital divide in the context of museum work had already been a significant concern and topic of research, the pandemic's effect on everyday (mostly primary) education drove children's museums in particular to develop programs that directly aimed to reduce-or at least to circumvent-the digital divide in schools (Ennes & Lee, 2021;UNESCO, 2021).…”