A digital tool to help students tame their emotions

Living with rejection, being afraid of failure or judgment, developing self-esteem, these are the situations that are frequently experienced by elementary school students. For educators, it is not always easy to address these topics in the classroom. A new online tool can now support them in this task. 

“Some themes are more delicate than others to discuss with the students. When dealing with emotions, you have to be quite concrete, but without targeting anyone in particular, while giving examples. We also have to use the right words and make sure that they make sense for young people, ”says Anne Campeau, teacher at École Les Jeunes Explorateurs in Granby. 

In June 2020, the Higher Education Council published a report entitledChild well-being at school: let's do our homework. He indicated that "beyond school learning, school constitutes a living environment for the child" and recommended in particular "to make explicit and compulsory the development of social and emotional skills of children". However, there are very few educational resources to support these teachings. 

This is what Jean-Philippe Turgeon observed when he was confronted with a personal situation with one of his children a few years ago. This is how he came up with the idea of developing a turnkey tool to simplify the teaching of emotional skills in schools. The result is the platform Moozoom, which is now offered by subscription to schools. 

All the resources available on the platform are built around interactive videos that the students watch (alone or in groups) and in which they make choices that influence the rest of the story and the consequences for the characters. “The students recognize themselves in the situations shown on the screen. They quickly make connections with what they experience. With videos, messages get across better. It is easier to fuel discussions, ”points out Frédérique Boucher, special education technician at École de l'Envolée in Trois-Rivières. 

At the moment, six modules (each containing four videos) are available. Each module can be completed in one hour per week for four weeks. Six new modules should be added annually. In addition to videos, students have access to quiz to which they respond in private. Activities can very well be completed remotely as everything is accessible online. The teacher can then see the responses and follow up based on them. Parents can also watch the videos with their children. 

The use of the platform is at the heart of action research by CTREQ and the Saint-Hyacinthe School Services Center on the conditions for implementing socio-emotional skills learning programs. Researchers Line Massé and Claire Beaumont are directly involved in the project, the latter having moreover already pronounced for a systematic teaching of social and emotional skills in school.

In addition

• Root. M. (2020, January 27). Emotional skills: why and how to teach them?, Information network for academic success 
• Couzon, N. (2018, May 1). The role of emotional competence in academic success, from childhood to adulthood, Information network for academic success

Dimension (s) of digital competence related to this article
9- Adopt a perspective of personal and professional development with digital technology in a position of empowerment

To see the Framework.