Using Interactive Platform “Round” to Organize Online Leisure Activities for Children During the Pandemic

Abstract

The speed with which interactive platforms are being modernized is increasing every year. The number of their users and consequently, the demand in such platforms are also rising. Quarantine restrictions and regulations related to COVID-19 revealed the problems of organizing both communication and leisure activities online. Since the advent of instant messengers in the 1990s, people have learned to communicate in a hybrid mode and to find friends over the Internet. Online communication, however, has always been occasional and could easily be switched to offline interaction. In view of the imposed restrictions during the pandemic, people were forced to stay isolated. The impact of the restrictions on organized leisure activities for children was also damaging. Online leisure activities were presented at best by online team games. Such online games, however, cannot replace the educational goals and learning outcomes of offline activities. From spring to summer 2020, all Russian schoolchildren and students studied online on various educational platforms. While several models of distance learning and teaching were implemented in the field of education (via Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other platforms), leisure activities were not adapted to an online format. At the same time, organized leisure activities are recognized as the main means for the socialization of children. It is noteworthy that the primary school age group became the most vulnerable. Our research aim was to analyze modern interactive platforms, identify their potential in organizing leisure activities, and determine the conditions for using the platform “Round” for leisure activities of primary school children. As a result of the study, the possibilities of introducing the platform “Round” for organizing leisure activities for children with different developmental levels and/or with difficult socio-economic conditions, who do not have the opportunity to receive additional education services, were identified.