On September 11, the 15th webinar of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ Academy took place on the VK Safe Digital Environment for Childhood community platform. The event marked the opening of Kaliningrad’s first Safer Internet Week, which will run until September 18 and feature a series of educational activities in the city’s schools and gymnasiums, including lessons, workshops, lectures, and hands-on sessions. Guest speakers include representatives from Sberbank, VK, R-Style SoftLab (a Russian software developer), Russia’s Cifra digital academy, Russkoye Slovo [Russian Word] Publishing House, and other organizations.
Notably, the initiative was spearheaded by the Academy of Innovative Education and Development, with the Coordination Center supporting the project with an eye toward future expansion across other Russian regions.
“The name Safer Internet Week speaks for itself – the central theme will focus on digital literacy, critical thinking, and safe, effective use of digital technologies, including in education. Today, we’ll delve into the latter topic with our webinar guests: Elena Lyamtseva, Head of Special Projects at Russia’s Safe Information Environment for Childhood public council, and Olga Yakovleva, Head of Project Management at the Coordination Center,” said Viktoria Bunchuk, the Coordination Center’s Social Projects head.
Elena Lyamtseva introduced the concept of digital mentorship. She emphasized that the teaching profession is undeniably affected by information technology. In other words, as the digital landscape evolves, knowledge transfer is taking on a new form – digital mentorship. This shift is both a professional necessity and a crucial modern skill, offering growth opportunities for individuals as well as the broader education system.
Olga Yakovleva echoed Elena’s remarks, noting that the higher a teacher’s IT proficiency, the more likely students will use digital technologies responsibly and efficiently, critically evaluate digital media, and avoid the darker corners of the web. Olga highlighted several Coordination Center initiatives in this field, including Study the Internet Mentor School, the professional development course, and Code Secrets, a program teaching internet and coding basics to children and their mentors from orphanages, rural schools, and small-class institutions.
Olga also announced that October will see a new enrollment wave for Code Secrets and a pilot course under the Mentor School – Children and Youth in the Digital Space: Risk Prevention and Protective Practices.
“This course will initially roll out for Kaliningrad educators. Participants will explore the digital environment’s impact on child development, methods to identify harmful content and manipulative online practices, critical thinking and personal data protection, cognitive and ethical AI interactions for children, and designing school-based digital risk prevention systems,” Olga explained.
Viktoria Bunchuk highlighted another way to remain a “trendsetting mentor” – by engaging children and youth in content creation, whether analog or digital. This approach also works in reverse: thoughtfully and responsibly involving young people in content production can yield immense benefits, not only for society but, most crucially, for the youths themselves – cultivating a generation of proactive, educated, and conscientious citizens. Among the positive outcomes, Viktoria emphasized the development of digital literacy and soft skills, empathy, the adoption of an active life stance and social responsibility, the emergence of professional interests and career prospects, as well as the mitigation of various negative social risks.
“The Academy has extensive experience working with Gen Z and Generation Alpha. As a socially responsible organization, these outcomes are all vital to us – and as the creators of youth-focused initiatives, particularly the interactive Study the Internet & Govern It project, the opportunity to align with the trends and preferences of young internet users is especially valuable,” Viktoria noted.
For this project, multiple game scenarios for the Knowledge online simulator, quiz questions, digital literacy Championship materials, comic book concepts and artwork, mascots, promotional merchandise, and ideas for expanding the Study the Internet community on VKontakte were developed collaboratively with students.
Recordings of all webinars from the Coordination Center’s Safe Information Environment for Childhood series are available in its official VK community.
