Digital Health and Wellness as a Digital Competency
Submission Type
75-minute Hands-on Workshop
Abstract
“Safety” in the context of digital competencies often refers to protecting devices and personal data. We want to expand our definition to include the intersections of digital technologies with physical and psychological well-being. In this workshop, we will explore together and create a list of topics in digital health and wellness that might be included as part of a digital competency in safety, such as cyberbullying, distraction, and ergonomics. We plan to continue this conversation by forming a working group for other small liberal arts colleges with programs in digital competency.
Start Date
5-23-2019 1:30 PM
End Date
5-23-2019 2:45 PM
Description
Trinity College is in the process of creating a digital competencies framework that will support our students as they fulfill our mission to become independent thinkers who lead transformative lives. We are creating resources in the areas of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation and making, safety, and problem solving to supplement Trinity’s curriculum and allow students to develop skills that will serve them as life-long learners. We would like to lead a workshop for other interested small liberal arts colleges to discuss and devise digital health and wellness content as part of a safety competency. While we currently offer workshops and trainings on protecting devices and on protecting personal data and privacy, we want to expand our notion of safety to include values shared by the EU’s articulation of digital competencies. Specifically, to provide students with skills to:
1. Be able to avoid health risks and threats to physical and psychological well-being while using digital technologies
2. Be able to protect [themselves] and others from possible dangers in digital environments
3. Be aware of digital technologies for social wellbeing and social inclusion. (EU Commission, 2018)
Our workshop would invite participants to think with us about what kinds of workshops, programming, and outreach would best meet the needs of students at a small liberal arts college who are preparing to enter a world increasingly reliant on the use of technology both professionally and personally. How can we create programming that takes seriously issues of physical and mental health stemming from students’ digital-oriented lives? Sample topics we hope to cover include limiting screen time, dealing with harassment and cyberbullying, navigating social media and distraction, awareness of online privacy concerns, productivity apps, and ergonomics. Our desired outcome is to create together a list of topics in digital health and wellness that might be included as part of a digital competency in safety, along with outreach suggestions and possible resources. We also hope to continue this conversation beyond the workshop by forming a working group for small liberal arts colleges with programs in digital competency to share resources and further develop programming.
Digital Health and Wellness as a Digital Competency
“Safety” in the context of digital competencies often refers to protecting devices and personal data. We want to expand our definition to include the intersections of digital technologies with physical and psychological well-being. In this workshop, we will explore together and create a list of topics in digital health and wellness that might be included as part of a digital competency in safety, such as cyberbullying, distraction, and ergonomics. We plan to continue this conversation by forming a working group for other small liberal arts colleges with programs in digital competency.