“One of the most important things a parent can do is notice her child. Is he a talker or is he shy? Find out what interests him and help him explore it. Let your child show you the way he likes to learn,” recommends Dalton Miller-Jones, Ph.D.

In this age of information, many parents are finding it tough to keep up with their digital kids. Sometimes they are baffled, often surprised, by the sheer pace on which gears move in the digital world.

Dr. Neelam Parmar, who currently works as Director of E-Learning at Ashford School, United Learning, is instrumental in leading the transformational change of embedding technology within teaching, learning and development.

Ashford School takes it  very seriously and is now working alongside and in partnership with parents to empower them in areas of digital literacy and more importantly, what it means to parent in the digital age. Bringing up children has never been easy but bringing them up in the age of smart phones and tablets is even more challenging.

Neelam's areas of expertise includes digital leadership, online learning and strategy, CPD staff development, pedagogical use of mobile technology in classrooms, management of IT/MIS systems and creating content based blended flipped learning approaches. She firmly believes that the use of mobile technology can help fill the unequal educational gap and has a vision to extend effective teaching and learning to all.

About 20 years ago, the most common way people communicated at home was to go and speak to them. Our parents did not text us to come downstairs when it was time for dinner or email us a list of chores. 

Generally, families communicated with each other face to face (or on the phone) because there was no other way to do it. While in the past many parents would speak to each other to discuss parenting styles, we now rely more on the plethora of information available in parenting sites and blogs.

The reality is that while technology has advanced quickly, digital parenting skills have not kept pace. It may not be our fault, but it is definitely a problem. Digital parenting is still very much in its infancy and not a smooth sailing journey but, as our children are more open to new technologies, trends and alternative ways of collaborating with their friends, it becomes our responsibility to keep up with them.

In the Indian context, schools and society have to open up more to digital literacy. Unlike in the US, Australia, and European countries, India does not have a social media research field.
 
Looking at the growing use of Internet among the young population (9 to 16 years), the country needs research on digital media in order to make policy decisions at school level, the government level and also at the family level.

The main areas where parenting is infusing with technology are Smartphone apps, devices, and a complete platform in the form of children’s tablets. 

App developers are creating applications that are meant to help children learn while having fun along with other apps that are for parents to monitor the baby’s growth, and more. 

Device manufacturers are picking up this mantle by making changes to the more common childhood possessions like the pram and the cradle by turning them into smart devices. 

On the other hand, they are also making devices, using IOT (Internet of things) and otherwise, like sleep trackers, that parents can use for a number of purposes.