Our Pandemic Story: How we Managed to Survive the Technology Monster

 

We are an average family, with average income, average needs and average know-how on digital technology. But the pandemic burst our safety bubble and brought us face-to-face with the Technology Monster. Read on to know how we managed the Technology Monster and survived the pandemic with limited resources at our disposal.

Our Profile

Me: A contractual teacher 

My Spouse: A small-time businessman

Our Child: A sixth grader

The Humble Devices we Own

• Redmi 7a, the smartphone which my spouse uses
• Redmi 8a, the smartphone which I use, and also let my child use so that I can keep an eye on her online activities as well as limit her screen time
• Acer Aspire V5, which is my secondary laptop purchased way back in 2013
• HP Pavillion x360, which is my primary laptop, that I bought from Amazon in 2019
• JioFi Modem for wifi connection

The Beginning: Tackling the WhatsApp Monster

March 2020: Here comes the virus unleashing the Technology Monster! Things were exciting as well as scary in the beginning. My spouse was out of business suddenly and much to my dismay, our smartphones became our institutions of teaching and learning. 

As a concerned parent, I had always limited my child's smartphone usage, especially the use of WhatsApp and other social media. I even closely monitored what my child watched on YouTube, and ensured that only educational and artistic content was watched.

But with the beginning of remote teaching and learning, all educational institutions started out on WhatsApp much to my horror! I could see many of my child's classmates had their own digital devices. But I couldn't allow my child to have her own device, especially before ensuring that she was ready to navigate her way safely through cyberspace. 

Here's how I managed the WhatsApp Monster:

• I installed dual apps for WhatsApp on my smartphone device, one for my child's use, and the other for my use.
• During her class hours, I made her use WhatsApp web on my secondary laptop, all the while monitoring her activities on my smartphone.
• All important messages, lesson videos and documents sent by the teachers on WhatsApp were star marked for ready reference, and also immediately saved in Google Drive.
• Apart from the groups created by the subject teachers, many other social groups started to take shape with funky names. I explained to my child the futility of being a member of all groups and made her choose only two groups because I believe interacting with friends is important as well for her social development.
• As the social groups started to mature, I had to counsel my child to limit unnecessary chats and focus more on meaningful chats and meaningful friendship. 
• I restrained from judging my child or her friends and built a top-notched trust level with her to ensure that she doesn't hide anything from me. This is how I learned about her crush and everyone else's crushes. I'm now granted full access to check or read her messages and sometimes reply on her behalf. 
• Our trust level grew stronger by the day, and my child didn't feel the need to delete "sensitive" chats to keep me in the dark before I could see them. Everything was open between us, and what's important is that she asks for my counsel every now and then on "sensitive" issues.
• As a teacher, I learned how to use Google Classroom, a better LMS to WhatsApp. I ensured my students became familiar with the interface of Google Classroom. Within a couple of weeks, we were comfortably discussing lessons, uploading audio-video materials and pdf files, uploading assignments, grading assignments, and having fun while doing all of it.

The Interim: Tackling the Boredom Monster

Okay, now that the WhatsApp monster was taken care of, it was time to tackle the Boredom Monster. Besides spending quality time with my child, I had to teach her how to spend quality time in cyberspace during her free hours. Here's what I did:

• I created a google account for my child and linked her account to mine. This way I could check what she's watching on YouTube, and what she's browsing on the internet.
• I enrolled her on Udemy for an Art Course on Mangaka, which she completed successfully, and is still practising to master.
• I signed her up on DIKSHA, NDLI and eSkillIndia so that she is in touch with the academic world besides her school.
• I also let her sign up on Minecraft, AmongUs and Roblox, which she enjoys playing. However, she plays any one of these games only for an hour a day, and sometimes not at all.
• She's also learning SCRATCH programming during her free time.
• For my professional growth, I started enrolling in online courses and attending online workshops and webinars. I even opened Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to connect professionally with the likes of me.

The Continuity: From Consuming to Producing

March 2021: Well, technologically, I'm modestly armoured now and a little more confident than the previous year. My Child and I grew up together learning and finding our paths in cyberspace with the help of the Internet, and yes, with the help of Google. Today, we have not only managed the Technology Monster but have levelled-up on the virtual world. We discuss a lot of things like - responsible social media usage, internet etiquette, cyberbullying, cybercrimes, internet addiction, fear of missing out (FOMO), etc. 

We have also realised that the best way to manage the Technology Monster is to not just consume content created by others but to produce our own content. This blog post is a result of such thinking! And my child is on the verge of starting her own YouTube channel on mangaka art.

Today I feel that my child is ready to handle her own digital device, and together we are trying to find the right one for her. We are considering buying the Samsung S6 tablet from Amazon as it has a stylus which is so important for her and is well within our budget as well. 

I hope you've enjoyed reading my post. Please drop in your valuable comments to encourage us. Until my next post, Namaste!

*** Check out these devices from Amazon:

• HP Pavilion x360 14-cd0050TX Convertible
• Redmi 8A Dual 
• Airtel LTE 4g Hotspot Wifi Router
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

Disclaimer: The author is also an Amazon Associate and has no other role besides recommending products from Amazon. All products are hyperlinked to Amazon.in, so kindly use your own discretion as per your need before purchasing the products.

What Parents and Teachers Should Know About Cyberpsychology: A field that is steadily gaining ground

With almost a year into the pandemic, Cyberpsychology seems to have silently permeated every home and every system of education. As a parent or as a teacher, have you ever found yourself asking these questions?

• Is too much screen-time affecting my child's/student's mental and physical well-being?

• Is my child/student anxious about missing out on something if he/she is not connected online?

• Is my child/student engaging in any other online activities beyond what is required for learning?

• How well is my child/student coping up with the use of technology and the overwhelming amount of unchecked information available on the internet?

If you have, then - Bingo! - the ideas related to Cyberpsychology are already present in your thought process; all you have to do now is to give your thoughts an insightful direction.

What is Cyberpsychology?

If Psychology is the study of the human mind and behaviour, Cyberpsychology is the study of the human mind and behaviour in cyberspace or the virtual world. 

Cyberspace presents to us an alternative world where people interact with each other globally over networks, with the help of the internet and digital devices like the computer, tablet and smartphone.

Hence, Cyberpsychology is an amalgam of two broad disciplines:

• Cybernetics (of which Computer Science is only a part)
• Psychology (of which Educational Psychology is only a part)

Though the two disciplines contribute to the content and context of Cyberpsychology, its influence, however, extends to other disciplines as well, such as - Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Forensic Science, Mass Media, and yes, Education, to name a few. 

Some Important Considerations about its Meaning in a Nutshell:

• The discipline of Cyberpsychology is at its infancy, i.e. it is an emerging area under Applied Psychology, constantly evolving and growing with every advancement in research, technology and innovation in Cybernetics, Psychology and all other fields of knowledge.
• It is both an area of Knowledge as well as a course of study. As a course of study, it is available at very few universities in western countries, and none that I know of in India. But, its future inclusion in Indian universities is inevitable.
• Its scope is as broad as that of Cybernetics and Psychology. However, its impact extends to every functioning sector of the real world.
• It does not discriminate between children/adolescents and adults and impacts them all alike.
• It has its own set of pros and cons. It can at once be a goldmine for information seekers, as well as a cesspit of unnecessary or unwanted experiences.

Why is Cyberpsychology Relevant?

As per The World Bank, about 50% of the world population were internet users in 2019, and the number of users must have increased unprecedentedly during the pandemic throughout 2020. Almost all internet users in the world today spend a considerable amount of time in cyberspace. With schools and offices operating from home, non-internet users were also bound to fall under the ambit of remote learning and remote working. Many were unprepared and more than many lacked the skills, yet, we all had to adopt and adapt to a new way of life to keep functioning as socio-economic beings and to keep our boats afloat. Not bad eh! So, what's the glitch?

With increased internet use, many people who are not technocrats or digital natives, easily fall victims to online malice, caprice and fraud. Other more naive ones fall victim to cyberstalking, bullying, trolling and identity theft. Further, excessive internet use for fear of missing out, posting selfies and feel-good photos more often in a day, compulsive social media usage, posting videos and messages to get more attention and likes, excessive gaming, watching pornography, etc. may have deep-seated psychological repercussions.

The new internet users today are Generation Alpha born after 2010 who have inherited internet usage as their birthright, and Generation Z born between 1995 - 2009. It is assumed that both groups that include school and college-going children are vulnerable to excessive and compulsive internet usage, which may thereby lead to several psycho-social problems if left unchecked.

Well, amid rising psychological problems related to cybernetics the world over, cyberpsychology with its dedicated research and development activities is constantly looking for novel solutions to tackle these novel problems. This, therefore, increases its relevance as a field to accurately identify problems that arise out of human-machine interaction and offer remedies, suggestions and best-practices. Yes, this field is the need of the day, and is definitely here to stay!

Why is it Relevant for Parents?

It is not enough for parents to provide their child with all the amenities they need. Children also need guidance in making proper and ethical use of these amenities. Many progressive parents, it is observed, get digital devices for their child, and after a while, allow him/her to use them unchecked. It is here that most psycho-social problems give rise. Therefore, for every parent, having a working knowledge of Cyberpsychology is imperative. Parents themselves need guidance on many facets of best online practices, and a little more technical knowledge to be able to problem-solve with their child. If children are getting digitalized, why should parents be left behind?

Why is it Relevant for Teachers?

Teachers are the crux of the education system, be it traditional or digital. Working knowledge of cyberpsychology will not just help the teacher to manipulate digital media for the purpose of teaching and learning, but will also give him/her an edge over others in terms of competence. Teachers can increase awareness amongst the students on the vagaries of social media and internet use, and how students can become smart social media or internet users. This can be done through classroom teaching, or during assembly sessions, or by organising group discussions and debates as co-curricular activities. The themes could be selected from the various trends related to cyberpsychology.

The Way Forward

Many times cyberpsychological problems may be either, hidden, unknown, unrecognised or dismissed as unimportant. This could be because of the lack of knowledge of parents and teachers. It is important for all teachers and parents who care, to keep up with the ever-growing domain of information and technology. And this can be done in two ways:

• By enrolling in online certificate, diploma or degree courses on Cyberpsychology.
• By reading books on Cyberpsychology and keeping oneself up-to-date.

Here's a list of books to consider buying from Amazon.

• The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology 

• Ethical Challenges in Digital Psychology and Cyberpsychology 

• An Introduction to Cyberpsychology

• CYBERPSYCHOLOGY: A Brief Introduction to Cyberpsychology

Disclaimer: The author is not an expert in the subject matter. All reference materials have been hyperlinked. The author is also an Amazon Associate (new) and has no other role besides product promotion.