THE society is rapidly adapting to the changing landscape of working and learning environments as we brace this unprecedented event.
Many parents are still working from home – schools have adopted online learning and teaching methods during this time of uncertainty.
Parents are suddenly finding themselves even more directly involved in their children's education at home.
As a parent, I often contemplate on the best way to manage my children's daily screen time.
I have frequent discussions with friends about how best to balance a physical and digital learning environment for our children.
HP New Asian Learning Experience (NALE) studied across seven-markets in Asia to provide insights and to help guide parents as they seek to find the optimal learning experience in the new digital world.
The study shows a whopping 92.7 per cent of Malaysian parents value experiential learning as an opportunity for children to hone their creative and critical thinking skills.
We found that while print and digital each have their own strengths, the combination of digital and print was most beneficial in helping children stay focused and engaged while they learn.
Young Malaysian parents perceive print as being a more effective medium for reading comprehension, comprehension skills and vocabulary knowledge while digital platforms facilitate creative thinking and critical thinking.
These parents also believe bonding with their children through learning activities as a great way to develop interpersonal skills (83 per cent).
The study also found that printed materials, such as worksheets, were the most effective format for learning and writing new words.
On the other hand, children who used both tablets and printed worksheets were more engaged. They spent up to 12 per cent longer on their tasks, were more likely to ask questions, and less likely to show signs of distraction or boredom.
Although technology is already second nature for most children, print is also a powerful medium for strengthening the bond between parent and child.
Learning from printed materials requires both parent and child to actively participate in a way that purely digital or video-based learning does not.
With printed materials, parents are also more involved with exercises and children are more responsive to their parents' guidance.
In the current climate, it's critical for parents to be involved in their children's learning process.
We may think education should be left to the experts, but that would be a missed opportunity for us parents to equip our children with skills while strengthening the parent-child bond.
Our research findings indicate that learning together is a special time for parents to instill a love of learning in their children, expose them to new ideas and help them develop key social skills.
To support young learners, HP has created enriched hands-on learning experience to empower parents with a set of tools that bridge printed materials and digital applications to enable fluid, dynamic learning anywhere, anytime.
HP Print and Play has hours' worth of fun activities created to provide children with the opportunity to explore learning through playtime.
Free for all, the activities are tailored to children's interest from ages 2 to 12 years in various print activities to learn and stay focused.
Similarly, HP Little Makers integrates elements of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics into its challenges so parents can work on enhancing their children's creativity, refining their motor skills as well as their logical thinking.
We're living in a time where accelerated change is the only constant.
As a parent myself, I believe it's important to be part of my children's learning and give them skills they need to be ahead of the curve.
While all parents strive to find the right balance for their child's education in the digital age, our study found a parent's own values towards learning and the parent-child bonding experience were key to maximizing the potential of the next generation.
Let's encourage our children to embrace change and ensure they are constantly curious and never stop learning, no matter what life throws at them in the future.
The writer is the managing director of HP Malaysia