Webinar Digital tools for school based health and well being education 1/2

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

• Why health and education belong together

  • Health and education are intrinsically linked: students need health to learn effectively, and education supports health outcomes.
  • From a public health perspective, most health determinants are not “medical” but tied to social, cultural, environmental, and behavioral factors—areas where schooling and education have major influence.
  • School health promotion can:
    • reduce health inequalities
    • improve resilience
    • deliver strong return on investment (cost-effective)

• What schools should do (and what the webinar argues is missing)

  • The challenge is not simply to “implement more programs” or create new curricula.
  • The key is to orient social change and improve the environment and services around schools, while building motivation and agency among teachers, health professionals, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

• Global perspective is essential

  • Health determinants and lessons learned are shared across countries and regions.
  • The webinar emphasizes moving beyond narrow, local-only thinking (“light where it’s easiest”) to learn from evidence and practice worldwide.

• Health education must be a whole-ecosystem approach

  • Health learning happens across multiple settings, not only school:
    • families and peers
    • healthcare providers
    • community associations
    • mass media and social networks
  • The “school” should be central, but connected to the wider ecosystem of young people’s lives.

• Digital tools can enhance school-based health and well-being education—if used thoughtfully

  • Digital tools are framed as ways to:
    • deliver accurate, age-appropriate, bias-free content
    • support teachers with ready resources and visual/interactive materials
    • create safer spaces for sensitive questions (especially sexuality/reproductive health)
    • enable discrete learning via quizzes, online Q&A, and anonymized help
    • overcome geography and resource constraints, at low cost in many contexts

• Practical considerations for classroom use

  • Major constraints include:
    • integrating digital content into school curricula
    • reaching students with different levels of connectivity
    • strengthening teacher digital literacy
    • designing gender-responsive and inclusive learning materials
    • ensuring personal data safety and security

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Methodologies / approaches presented (detailed bullets)

1) UNESCO chair framing: “Five simple key ideas” for setting the scene

1. Integrate health into the school curriculum

   • School health education is crucial because education and health reinforce each other.
   • Use the “iceberg” concept: the most important health determinants aren’t visible like hospitals/doctor care, but social/cultural/environmental/behavioral factors linked to education.

2. Adopt a global perspective

   • Learn from solutions across continents (evidence-based practice and “practice-based evidence”).
   • Avoid relying only on limited local data; shift to wider learning and comparability.

3. Think of health learning as multi-setting

   • Young people learn in schools, but also in after-school/community settings, healthcare encounters, family, and media/social networks.
   • For sexuality/reproductive health topics, sources include friends/peers, digital spaces, and schools—so education must mobilize all three.

4. Use health education standards and “health learning pathways”

   • Base curricula on global health education standards (examples mentioned include WHO/UNESCO standards and U.S. health education standards).
   • Build competencies:
     • core skills (communication, emotional skills, decision-making)
     • theme-based competencies (e.g., addiction, sexuality and reproduction)
   • Develop coherence through “health learning pathways” across settings over the life course.

5. Prioritize social change orientation over “solutionism”

   • Don’t assume one perfect program can simply be implemented.
   • Focus on building motivation and agency of educators and stakeholders.
   • Support teachers by ensuring coherence with their professional identity and tasks.
   • Build “ecosystems of knowledge production and sharing” to improve school environments and services collaboratively.

2) Digital tools approach (UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies and Education / speaker’s emphasis)

• Frame and re-label content to improve student engagement

  • If “health” is not compelling at certain ages, package it as relationships, well-being skills, and personal/social skills while keeping comprehensive content.

• Use digital tools to support teachers and content quality

  • Provide visual aids, scripts/manuals, and structured materials to reduce teacher burden and biases.
  • Enable teachers to organize lessons in a safe, inclusive way.

• Use a “flipped” or blended model where possible

  • When feasible: students watch videos at home; classroom time is for discussion, role plays, brainstorming, and skill-building.

• Build safe learning spaces for sensitive topics

  • Provide anonymous Q&A, self-assessments, and quizzes to reduce fear of teasing or embarrassment.

• Ensure inclusiveness and accessibility

  • Adapt content for:
    • migrant learners
    • learners with disabilities/special needs

• Teacher empowerment + parent engagement

  • Train teachers not just to use tools, but to respond to parent questions and resistance.

3) CSE teacher training and scaling approach in Eastern/Southern Africa (UNESCO “Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future” / OR3)

• Program goals

  • Reduce:
    • new HIV infections
    • unintended pregnancy
    • gender-based violence
    • child marriage
  • Increase school completion rates

• Teacher training approach

  • Develop an online CSE course (self-guided, accessible on any device).
  • Include:
    • CSE content learning units
    • classroom management and delivery best practices
    • quizzes, tests, learning activities
    • certification
  • Connect trained teachers to a community of practice (“Connect and Learn”).
  • Provide mentor support/supervision via workshops and webinars for sensitive or challenging topics (e.g., CSE for learners with disabilities).

• Direct student engagement approach

  • Use multimodal delivery through the digital + low-tech framework:
    • content (scientifically accurate, culturally sensitive, age appropriate)
    • digital tools/platforms
    • engagement/pedagogy strategies for behavior change and positive health outcomes

• Equity by design: “device/connectivity ladder”

  • Plan across:
    • High-tech: responsive websites, podcasts, microlearning, online safety initiatives
    • Medium-tech: WhatsApp chatbots, mobile apps, social media
    • Low-tech: radio lessons and TV, including scripted drama series and radio drama discussions
  • Example tools included:
    • automated WhatsApp learning chatboards (Zimbabwe/Malawi)
    • radio lessons and a multi-language drama series (aimed at reducing early/unintended pregnancy)
    • mobile apps for youth services access (with counseling, panic button, location-based services, offline articles)

• Handling political/social opposition with digital reach

  • The program describes controversy and opposition to CSE (including misinformation and pressure tactics).
  • Digital approaches are used to reach youth when school-based delivery is disrupted.

4) AI chatbot approach for confidential adolescent support (ESPAN/and or similar chatbots)

• Purpose

  • Provide discreet, anonymous guidance for sexuality/reproductive health and gender equality topics.

• Operational model

  • Evidence-based guidance delivered through AI chatbots.
  • Behind the scenes: a team of psychologists, medical professionals, and legal experts ensures accuracy and empathy.

• Content safety classification

  • Queries are categorized (e.g., sensitive/provocative vs general).

• Advanced response generation

  • Uses augmented generation: retrieves relevant knowledge and synthesizes tailored responses.

• Privacy handling

  • Anonymizes/analyzes conversations to keep user secrets safe (as described).

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Practical questions addressed in the webinar (as indicated by Q&A)

• Overwhelmed teachers / teacher responsibility load

  • Advice: frame health education as an integration rather than a whole new extra burden; provide ready-to-use tools.
  • Emphasize better use of existing resources + capacity building + links between school and community.

• Student non-registration due to low perceived relevance

  • Reframe “health education” for adolescents (relationships/well-being/life skills), while ensuring comprehensive content.

• Ensuring teachers can choose correct online resources

  • Ensure endorsement by relevant bodies, train teachers, and provide guided use rather than relying only on independent filtering.

• Availability of chatbots by country

  • Currently available in specific languages/regions (Russian/Kazakh/Kyrgyz mentioned), with hopes to expand.

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Speakers / sources featured (as named in the subtitles)

Speakers (panelists / hosts)

• Mr. Professor DJ A. (Dj?) Jord — chairholder, UNESCO Chair on Global Health and Education; head of the Center for research in health and education
• Mr. Donald (Ter?) — Project Officer, UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa
• Patricia Macha(a) — Regional Advisor for Education for Health and Well-being, UNESCO—East and Southern Africa (based in Harare)
• Tigran (Tigran/“Tan” as transcribed) — Regional Health and Education Advisor, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies and Education (based in Moscow)
• Katrina Salugo — Project Coordinator, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education
• Mr. Taison / “Toan” (transcribed) — Director, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies and Education
• Sylvia — moderator/host (introduced as Sylvia; thanked for technical assistance)
• Donal — listed separately in subtitles; appears to refer to Donald in earlier segments

Additional named source/organization entities (not necessarily individual speakers)

• UNESCO (including UNESCO bodies/initiatives)
• UNICEF (referenced in a Q&A question)
• WHO (referenced via health education standards context)
• OR3 / “Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future” (UNESCO-related program; presenters Patricia and Donald described it)
• ESPAN/“Span and law” AI chatbot system (UNESCO-developed; presented by Katrina)
• UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies and Education (UNESCO IITE)

Countries/regions repeatedly referenced (contextual)

• France; Moscow
• Southern Africa; Eastern & Southern Africa
• Eastern Europe & Central Asia
• Kyrgyzstan; Armenia; Kazakhstan; Belarus
• Zimbabwe; Malawi; Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda; Namibia; Zambia