– Everything is fun in Jälkkäri! I like building huts, crafting and playing with hobby horses with Veera, says one child in Jälkkäri participant survey.
Jälkkäri, school morning and afternoon activities have been organized in Jyväskylä for 23 years. Jälkkäri offers leisure activities for first and second graders after school. In the early days of Jälkkäri, all the information from children and their parents was collected in paper form. As there were about 200 children at the beginning, non-digital communication did not cause problems. This year there are already 1500 children participating in Jälkkäri activities. Digital tools have been widely applied ranging from application process to participant survey.
What can we do today with digital tools in morning and afternoon activities?
The application process was renewed a few years ago and now parents enroll their children in Jälkkäri with Wilma application. After registration is confirmed, a welcome letter to Jälkkäri will be sent to parents by email. Because of the corona pandemic, now a welcome session before registration are organized with Teams application. This year more than 500 parents participated in the online session.
After the child has started in Jälkkäri activities, the parents can follow the content of the activities and other current issues in education platform Peda.net. Monthly letters that previously were sent to homes in paper form are now available in Peda.net. Jälkkäri also has its own Peda.net site. This site also contains virtual Jälkkäri sections offering good links to online activities for children. Also, a blog platform will be created to the same site, which tells to the others about the well-being from the perspectives of children and instructors in Jälkkäri activities. In co-operation with homes, Wilma and mobile devices are the main means of communication.
The contents of the activities are based on the guidelines stated in the Basics of Morning and Afternoon Activities in Basic Education (2011) by the Ministry of Education. The guidelines require that also media education is part of school morning and afternoon activities. For instance, producing animations and movies and orienteering with QR codes are examples of media education in Jälkkäri activities. Children and guardians can assess and give feedback on the content and quality of Jälkkäri activities by means of a ZEF electronic survey, which is carried out every two years. The survey will be carried out this spring as well.
– I like it in Jälkkäri when I´m free to go out and play with my friends, reports a child in a ZEF online satisfaction survey about Jälkkäri school morning and afternoon activities in Jyväskylä.
How to develop the use of digital tools in Jälkkäri in future?
The areas of development for the next school year will be defined after this year’s satisfaction survey results. This spring a series of training sessions on well-being themes will be organized through Teams. In addition, there will be a training event where Jälkkäri instructors will be able to participate in virtual workshops that promote well-being.
The exceptional corona virus circumstances have brought several opportunities to socialize with digitalized means. In this May, a concert will be streamed to all participants of Jälkkäri and there are also plans to implement online clubs for children.
A future plan is to arrange the much-needed morning activities for first graders through Teams. That would help the first graders when they are alone at home and leaving for school in the morning.
Picture 1: There are many friends in Jälkkäri school morning and afternoon activities. Picture Bank of the City of Jyväskylä.
Blog writers: Kaisu Peltonen, Päivi Virtakallio and Tella Vuolle-Oranen. Welfare and Health Coordinator- students from Savonia UAS.
Sources:
Finnish National Agency for Education, 2011. PERUSOPETUKSEN AAMU- JA ILTAPÄIVÄTOIMINNAN PERUSTEET 2011. Pdf. Viitattu 7.3.2021.
Erdreich Lauren, 2021. Managing Parent Capital: Parent-Teacher Digital Communication Among Early Childhood Educators
Pettersson Fanny, 2021. Understanding digitalization and educational change in school by means of activity theory and the levels of learning concept
Ribble Mike, 2020. Essential elements of digital citizenship
Ufa Natalia, 2019. The impact of digital technology on parenting in the modern family
Jyväskylän kaupunki. Aamu- ja iltapäivätoiminta Jälkkäri. Verkkojulkaisu. Päivitetty 30.3.2021. https://www.jyvaskyla.fi/opetus/aamu-ja-iltapaivatoiminta-jalkkari