ONLINE ACTIVITIES, E-LEARNING AND PARENTAL ROLE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DURING COVID-19

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life including accelerated and unplanned digitalization, with particular emphasis on changes in school education provision and the introduction of distance learning. During December 2020, when educational activities were carried out in an online environment for most children, a follow-up survey was conducted using a survey questionnaire. The purpose of this paper is to present the research results on the Internet use habits, children’s Internet safety as well as children’s perception of the parental role among seventh and eighth grade elementary schoolchildren (N = 210), at average age of 13.5 years, to determine if there are changes in the abovementioned variables according to gender, and to compare these results with the first wave research conducted in 2017 (N = 286, average age 13.76). The research results indicate that students during the pandemic spent more time on the Internet than before the pandemic (87%). 59% of schoolchildren believed that their parents possessed poorer Internet skills than children themselves, and most students reported how their parents informed them on the potential risks of Internet use. The research found that the pandemic increased the perception of parental involvement through talking about using the Internet, parents’ informing the children about risks, and spending time together using the Internet. © 2022, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering. All rights reserved.

Communication between partners in a digital age: Family mediation possibilities7

Digital tools enable numerous advantages in everyday life, and the usage of the Internet is increasing in all age groups. Communication through modern technologies is conducted in everyday private and professional relationships, and therefore digital environment brings numerous changes in the area of interpersonal relationships. The influence of the online environment on partner relationships is in the focus of researchers and practitioners alike. The aim of this paper is to present modern trends in the area of partner communication in the digital environment and to present the possibilities and challenges for family mediators in the contemporary digital age par-ticularly significant in actual crisis of COVID 19 pandemic. The first part of the paper is focused on partner relationships in the modern, digital age and it presents the results of the research in the area of partner communication in the online environment, as well as the implications for the practitioners in the area of partner relationships. The second part of the paper presents the possibilities of family mediation in the online environment. Digital tools and possibilities of online communication have many ben-efits in the professional practice of helping professionals who, due to the additional demands of the online environment, have the responsibility to improve their digital competencies and to implement modern technologies in their daily practice. Since the online environment brings specific ethical challenges to professionals, this paper will present the ethical standards needed for the area of online family mediation. The paper briefly presents the digital tools and applications which can be useful to the partners and family mediators during the family mediation process. © 2020, University of Zagreb. All rights reserved.