Course Content. Module 1

Introduction

Two of the most important aspects of digital citizenship are the physical (health) and psychological wellbeing (wellness) of one’s self while living and interacting in an ever-increasing digital technological world. Given the high frequency with which young people use technologies, particularly in their personal lives, health and wellbeing are areas that need to be addressed in order to develop well-balanced future citizens.

In the physical health aspect, excessive use of technology can bring about a range of physical issues from postural distress and lack of exercise to disrupted life-balance. Moreover, the ergonomics of the workstation have become more important than ever, given the frequency and duration of use of technologies. Some injuries that need to be addressed and avoided include repetitive stress injuries, eyestrain and carpal tunnel syndrome. Simple solutions such as table height or screen placement or placing limits on the time spent in front of a screen can preclude health problems.

In the psychosocial aspect, it is recognized that a cultural shift is occurring with respect to what is expected of individuals in social settings, in relationships with others through and with technology (e.g social media, online forums, etc.). The nature of highly mobile and highly connected technology places pressure on the nature of social connectedness and behavior, both physical and virtual. Among the numerous ethical considerations and risks related to mental and psychological health and well-being, perhaps the biggest ones are linked to impoverished interactions between humans and the progressively reduced “field of vision” imposed by the filter bubble search engines build around a person through profiling. Both limit the development of openness to cultural diversity and the capacity to engage with other beliefs and attitudes. Self-esteem is another aspect to be taken into consideration, especially since it is closely linked to the use of social media and the “likes” one might get for their photographs or their posts. Finally, among the most alarming facts related to youth’s health and wellbeing is the rising percentages of young people suffering from some type of media addiction.  They exhibit compulsive behavior that interferes with their normal living and causes high levels of stress on family, friends and one’s work environment (Young, 2009). Achieving balance has become a very relevant characteristic of healthy citizens.

Balance is truly the operative word in the digital domain of health and well-being and necessitates a blend of the full range of digital competences, from values to attitudes, and skills to knowledge and critical understanding. Balance is something that young people need to develop by learning to listen, observe, show empathy and co-operate. Well-being is built to a large degree on how young people perceive themselves through the eyes of others, and hence on interaction with others.

Why is this course needed?

“Over the past quarter of a decade, European society appears to have acknowledged health and well-being as essential elements in digital citizenship, and is striving to upgrade education systems accordingly. This requires taking into account the social, physical, cognitive and psychological aspects of learners rather than just performance-related aspects. It underlines the importance of focusing on the individual as well as the group”^[1]

This course on digital health and wellbeing is necessary for a number of reasons, as presented below:

■       because the impact on technologies and digital services on young people’s mental, physical and emotional health is enormous

■       because numerous mental health issues are directly connected to the use of digital technologies

■       because youth’s social wellbeing, including aspects such as maintaining healthy relationships and participating in communities is highly affected by their use of the media and the social networks

■       because many physical problems diagnosed among the youth are linked to their digital habits

■       because there is a constant need to develop critical thinking among the population of youth on the ways they act, interact and counteract in online environments

■       because the concepts of digital health and wellbeing are still underestimated or ignored for many young people.

This course transforms the lessons through exploration and willingness to discover new concepts, new ideas and new ways of thinking. 

This is intended to be a course that provide trainees knowledge, skills and competences in order to achieve a healthy and balanced life between their online and offline activities.

Digital health and wellbeing

According to the World Health Organization^[1], “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition”.

On the other hand, wellbeing as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary^[2] is “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.” However, it is important to realize that wellbeing is a much broader concept than moment-to-moment happiness. While it does include happiness, it also includes other things, such as how satisfied people are with their life as a whole, their sense of purpose, and how in control their feelings. In this respect, the New Economics Foundation describes wellbeing as the following: ‘Wellbeing can be understood as how people feel and how they function, both on a personal and a social level, and how they evaluate their lives as a whole”^[3].

Question:

These definitions do not include the term “digital”. Do you think they also cover the concepts of digital health and wellbeing? If not, what would you add?

In order to answer the question, let us keep in mind the definition of digital health and wellbeing provided by JISC^[4], defining digital health and wellbeing as “the capacity to look after personal health, safety, relationships and work-life balance in digital settings”. Some aspects related to digital health and wellbeing also include:

■       using personal digital data for positive wellbeing benefits.

■       using digital media to foster community actions and wellbeing.

■       acting safely and responsibly in digital environments.

■       managing digital stress, workload and distraction.

■       acting with concern for the human and natural environment when using digital tools.

■       balancing digital with real-world interactions appropriately^[5].

Human interactions

With the proliferation of technologies, one would think that these technological and digital tools would be used to gain an understanding of other cultures and other people, meet people all over the world, maintain and strengthen familial relationships, communicate effectively with others, and help people to become more socially skillful. However, some technological advances cause people to be distracted, overly stressed, and increasingly isolated. Many people are involved in an abundant number of relationships through technology, but sometimes the quantity of these associations leaves people feeling qualitatively empty^[1]. Obviously, technology has had a profound impact on what it means to be social, what it means to interact with others in a healthy manner.

An important factor affecting human interactions in the digital world is the “language” used in these interactions. While online technology force-feeds our brain with a constant diet of fast-moving sounds and images, it simultaneously reduces our capacity of people to “read between the lines”. Nonverbal cues such as facial expressions and body language are essential facets of communication that facilitate comprehension and lessen the risk of misunderstanding. Taken into account that a large part of today’s interactions, especially among teenagers, is reduced to the bare bones of sound, icons and short-cut language, it is certain that the risks of miscommunication and misunderstanding are higher, thus affecting our interactions online.

Emoticons [ :) ]and emojis [ ], for example, have become so firmly ensconced in day-to-day communication streams that in 2015, Oxford Dictionaries even chose an emoji known as the "Face with Tears of Joy" as its Word Of The Year. On the other hand, they offer little scope for sensing meaning or discerning patterns in communication, which are so important in developing digital citizenship competences such as listening and observing skills, and empathy. In a nuanceless world, a joke or misunderstanding can very easily escalate into conflict, violence and bullying. At another level, when children are unable to see the nuanced version of a situation, it is much more difficult for them to hypothesize on the consequences of their own actions.

Reflection corner

1. Think about how technology affects your social life and social skills. Think about television, the Internet and the social media. What would you say?

2. Swiss tennis player Roger Federer uses emoji frequently on Twitter and has even described an entire day in 43 emoji. Try to describe your day so far with emojis and emoticons. What is the result? Does it really reflect your day? If not, why not?

3. Think of the different meanings the following three emojis have for an older person and a teenager:

a. (banned from the Instagram)

b.        

c.       

How their communication and interaction would be affected? Why?

Information processing capacity

Today’s over-rich diet of sounds and images has effects on young people’s well-being, in particular related to their information-processing capacity. Data often comes from unreliable sources and, on top of this, internet users are consistently profiled by search engines to filter out any information that does not “fit” their profile. Because of this, young people are frequently denied the means of exploring multi-perspective views on issues and can be rapidly polarized towards extreme views, as we are seeing with the rise of hate speech, cyber bullying and poorly informed excessive standpoints^[1].

A substantial body of research empirically investigating the multiple potential pathways through which digital technology and the Internet could affect our brains’ structure, function, and cognitive development has been emerging. Specifically, the bulk of existing research can be separated into three specific domains, examining how the internet is affecting:

a) attention (i.e., how the constant influx of online information, prompts and notifications competing for our attention may encourage individuals to displace their concentration across multiple incoming media streams – and the consequences this may have for attentional‐switching versus sustained‐attention tasks);

b) memory and knowledge (i.e., the extent to which we rely on the Internet as our primary informational resource, and how unique properties of online information access may affect how we process new memories and value our internal knowledge);

c) social cognition (along with the personal and societal consequences of increasingly embedding our social networks, interactions, and status within the online world)^[2].

To complicate the issue further, researchers are showing through Magnetic Resonance Imaging that even moderate use of online technology can result in the overdevelopment of certain parts of the brain and slow down development in other parts. They are pointing to a consequent underdevelopment of the prefrontal lobe, which is said to be limiting the capacity of young people to project the outcomes of actions. Kindergarten teachers and child psychologists are also voicing concern that online technology is having a considerable impact on developmental phases in early childhood, markedly prevalent in reduced concentration spans and delayed development of certain motor co-ordination skills.

Reflection corner

1. Have you ever heard the expression “brain fog”? The brain is any amazing tool, but it has its limits. We often exceed what our brains can process and in so doing reach something called cognitive overload, which means we hit a mental wall that leads to irritability and poor thinking and impacts not only our decision making, but our productivity and ability to stay motivated as well^[3]. Have you ever experienced a “brain fog”? What caused it? What were the effects?

2. Try to find two contradicting articles/ videos/ pieces of information on the same issue. For example: “Vaccines can cause cancers” and “Vaccines help prevent cancers”. Why is it important to read both articles? Would you discard one of them as being “not reliable” or even “fake”? Why?

3. The typical cell phone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times every day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. How is this connected to the amount of information we receive every day? How many times do you touch yours? Be truthful!

Ergonomics

Besides the impact on health and well-being of issues such as bullying and hate speech, excessive use of technology can bring about a range of physical issues from postural distress and lack of exercise to disrupted life-balance. Some other physical risks from the use of technology include eyestrain, sleep problems and obesity. These problems are further exacerbated by the plentiful but often misleading health information to be found online, requiring the sharpest of critical thinking skills to sift out the true from the false.

Moreover, excessive use of technology and digital media make us more vulnerable to their addictive nature. Internet addiction is an umbrella term covering a range of behaviors and impulse-control problems involving the internet, personal computers, and mobile technology. It can be in the form of a gaming disorder, social media addiction, screen addiction, and so on. There are many effects of internet addiction and technology addiction. Some mental effects include depression, anxiety and sudden mood changes while physical effects include headaches, insomnia and unhealthy nutrition^[1].

The current focus on beauty and body in today’s era of selfies and likes affect young people perception of physical health through the comparisons they make with other users, mainly on social media^[2]. This can rapidly lead young people to seek out nutritional tips that may accentuate eating disorders, such as anorexia, or join groups of “like-minded” people that lead them into other risky behaviors. These challenges are likely to have a lasting effect on a person’s social, professional and emotional life, and hence on their role as an active citizen.

Reflection corner

1. Internet addiction encompasses different types of dependencies that can develop with the overuse of the internet or technology in general. Can you name a few? Which one is the most serious or dangerous? Why? Which one is easier to overcome? Why so?

2. Here are some computer postures:

Can you explain why the three ones are labelled as “incorrect” and only the far right one as “correct”? Which of the above postures best describes your posture when using a computer?

3. How would you comment the following picture?

What is unhealthy about our “need to be told we’re beautiful” through our selfies? Any other reasons why people constantly upload their selfies online? Have many have you posted today?

Ethical considerations and risks

As already described, among the numerous ethical considerations and risks related to health and well-being, perhaps one of the biggest ones is linked to impoverished interactions between people. If you have ever been talking to a friend who has pulled their phone out to scroll through Instagram or Facebook, you might have wondered what social media is doing to relationships and human interactions. Even the mere presence of a phone can interfere with our interactions, particularly when we are talking about something meaningful. On the other hand, the increasing number of fake profiles on social media platforms have caused users to feel distrust, suspicion or anxiety when interacting with others online, having a negative effect on the quality and the depth of their interactions.

 Another ethical consideration related to the use of digital tools and platforms involves the progressively reduced “field of vision” imposed by the filter bubble search engines build around a person through profiling. This limits the development of openness to cultural diversity and the capacity to engage with other beliefs and worldviews. Radicalization can be one of the side effects, if a young person has not developed sufficient analytical and critical thinking skills. In fact, “violent radicalization and extremism are a threat to security, the sense of security, people’s wellbeing and the sense of participation, democracy as well as human and fundamental rights”^[1].

Self-esteem is another aspect to be taken into consideration. Social media is, to a large extent, built on the selfie trend to take and upload photos of ourselves and our activities, anywhere and at any time. This erodes an individual’s knowledge and understanding of self. By portraying ourselves to get a maximum number of likes, “real” lives are tweaked according to popular ideals and trends, diversity is reduced and, rather than shaping the internet, society becomes shaped by it.

Exercise 1: A Media Plan

Objective:

-        reflect about the time you spend online

-        understand the impact of extensive media use on health and wellbeing

-        realize the social or learning value of your online activities

-        formulate feedback to your colleagues

Duration: 20 minutes

Tools:    pen, piece of paper / forum

Methods: classroom discussions, description, comparison,

Description of the exercise: During this exercise, you will identify media and information that surround you on a normal day. Then, you will compare it with the media your colleagues consume and the time spent on these media. Finally, you will jointly come up with some advice on the use of online media in order to promote a healthy online lifestyle.

Tasks:  

-        Remember yesterday. Think about the online media you used, the activities you did while using them and the time spent on each activity. The following Table can help you record the data requested:

-        Present you Table to your colleagues

-        Listen to your colleagues as they present theirs and write down comments, similarities and differences in the findings.

-        Notice: has everyone included those minutes/ seconds they checked their smartphones “unconsciously”? (for example, when waiting for the bus, while doing something else, or when they checked for messages)

-        After all trainees have presented their Tables, what conclusions can be drawn regarding the time spent on media and the patterns of their use?

-        With your colleagues write down some pieces of advice you would give to someone to promote their health and wellbeing when being online. What would be your most important piece of advice to them?

-        Reflect on the list of advice you all made. Is there any piece of advice on the list which you would definitely give to yourself? Which one(s)?

Lessons learned: the time we spend on media and the activities we do while online have a direct effect on our health and wellbeing. It is advisable to keep track of our own behaviors and practices, in order to amend them, in case they do not promote our health and wellbeing.               

Extension: You can keep a record for a week/ month to check if you have followed some of the advice you recorded with your colleagues. Was it a difficult task to change your online patterns? why?