Dmitry Gulyaev hosted four workshops for the participants, which were dedicated to the topics of digital hygiene and the risks of virtual space. He emphasized on the awareness of the information distribution about oneself on the Internet: “Information about each of us on the Internet remains there for a long period of time, and sometimes for the whole life. You need to be very attentive to what appears on the Web, you need to learn how to form your “pure digital profile”, you need to instill the skills of safe interaction in the virtual environment so that no one else could “help” you in the formation of your “digital profile”.
The ombudsperson also spoke about the peculiarities of the "digital footprint", which is formed from the decisions we make on the Web: clicks on the link, search queries, "likes" and comments. All this information is used by algorithms of social networks to form individually selected content, including advertising, based on our preferences. Thus, according to Gulyaev, “such small decisions create our “big” life in virtual space, shape our personality, our perception of the world, almost in the same way that actions shape our life path in the real world." That is why it is important to be always aware of what and how we are doing in the digital space, and do not forget that the Internet remembers everything.
Dmitry praised the participants for their involvement in workshops and comments that showed their erudition and interest in the topic: “Guys are really great! It was incredibly interesting to discuss such burning topics with them. The Artek finalists of "Bolshaya peremena" not only proved themselves to be wonderful listeners, but also became active participants in the "learning" process: they divided into teams, drew, proved their position, learned to "break" opponents' arguments and much more. I wanted to stay in this atmosphere for at least another day and meet at least a dozen of such motivated and interested in the topic of digitalization of society and the state children! "
In 2021, pupils of grades 5-7 took part in the Bolshaya Peremena competition for the first time (before that the competition was available only for high school students), who submitted 1.2 million applications for the competition. 660 schoolchildren reached the finals and came to Artek. The winners in this age category were 303 schoolchildren from 66 regions of the country. The main reward for them was the journey on the Bolshaya Peremena train from Moscow to Vladivostok and back in September 2021.