It is not just digital gadgets and methods getting more and more widespread, but also the quickly changing online scenario, that poses a great challenge to parents all over the world, not just developed countries. We live in a kind of interim period in which most parents and also the majority of teaching professionals were born before the digital age. Some of the issues we are facing will be automatically solved with the digital generation becoming parents, but still the challenges need to be tackled. This is an opportunity to list some of the challenges and to flash possible solutions, probably paving the way for discussion in more detailed.

The main challenge, with a number of consequences, is that it is not easy to find the right place and proportion of digital media and digital tools use. The background for this is very often being afraid of the unknown. We all know teachers who would ban smartphones from the class instead of using them extensively, but also of parents who do not see the computer or tablet as a learning tool, but something that could be used in a limited way, often as a reward for behaving well or doing the homework. In some European contexts teachers are prohibited to be present in social media, while in other countries social media is widely used for teaching and community building purposes by teachers, parents and students alike.

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