Comprehensive approach to the hygienic rating of the use of electronic means for education in children

Abstract

Introduction. The implementation of the federal project “Digital School” provides for the creation of a secure digital educational environment. There are needed hygienic standards for the use of electronic educational facilities in schools. The purpose of the study: Justification of approaches, methods, and indices of the hygienic rating of electronic means for education for children and adolescents. Material and methods. A nonrandomized controlled study was performed using a natural hygienic experiment. Analyzed materials included the results of surveys of children, data on the physical parameters of the educational environment, the font design of electronic textbooks, the psychophysiological state of adolescents when reading texts from screens of electronic educational tools. Results. The behavior of high school students in a digital school is associated with a whole complex of health risk factors, which significantly change the lifestyle of adolescents. Peculiarities of the impact of the font design on the functional state, cognitive functions, and well-being of students depending on the level of education and the type of electronic device are revealed. Signs of fatigue for students in grades 5-9 were observed when reading at a time texts in 12-point font with a volume of 400 characters, at 10 points in a volume of 200 characters and all texts with a capacity of 600 characters; in high school students - when reading text in a font of 10 points with a volume of 600 characters. A more favorable effect of the visual work of students on a tablet compared to a laptop has been established. The hygienic requirements for the font design of electronic textbooks for grades 5-11 are justified. Conclusion. Hygienic regulation of the use of electronic educational tools should be based on an integrated approach, including the assessment of behavioral risk factors for children’s health in the context of digitalization of their livelihoods and the prevalence of electronic teaching aids, the examination of the effects of electromagnetic radiation in a digital environment, the use of font typography, as well as indicators of psycho-functional state Learning when working with electronic learning tools.