scholarly journals Investigation of Digital Technology Use in the Transition to Parenting (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorie Donelle ◽  
Jodi Hall ◽  
Bradley Hiebert ◽  
Kimberley Jackson ◽  
Ewelina Szynal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Pregnancy And Postpartum ◽  
Transition To Parenting

BACKGROUND The transition to parenting – that is, the journey from pre-conception through pregnancy and postpartum periods – is one of the most emotionally charged and information intense times for individuals and families. While there is a developing body of literature on the use and impact of digital technology on the information behaviors of children, adolescents and young adults, personal use of digital technology during the transition to parenting and in support of infants to 2 years of age is relatively understudied. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of the ways digital technologies contribute to the experience of the transition to parenting; particularly the role these technologies play in organizing and structuring emerging pregnancy and early parenting practices. METHODS A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to understand new parents’ experiences with and uses of digital technology during four-stages – pre-natal, pregnancy, labour, and post-partum – of their transition to becoming a new parent. A purposive sampling strategy was implemented using snowball sampling techniques to recruit participants who had become a parent within the previous 24 months. Focus groups and follow up interviews were conducted using semi-structured interview guides that inquired about parents' type and use of technologies for self and family health. Transcribed audio recordings were thematic analyzed. RESULTS A total of 13 focus groups and three individual interviews were completed with 26 participants. While recruitment efforts targeted parents of all genders and sexual orientations, all participants identified as heterosexual women. Participants reported prolific use of digital technologies to direct fertility (e.g. ovulation timing); information seeking regarding development of their fetus, to prepare for labour and delivery, and in searching for a sense of community during postpartum. Participants expressed their need for these technologies to assist them in the day-to-day demands of preparing for and undertaking parenting, yet expressed concerns about their personal patterns of use, and the potential negative impacts their use. Three themes generated from the data included:“Is this normal; is this happening to you?!”, “Am I having a heart attack; what is this?”, “Anyone can put anything on Wikipedia”: Trustworthiness of Digital Information. CONCLUSIONS Digital technologies were used by mothers to track menstrual cycles during preconception; monitor, document, and announce a pregnancy during the prenatal stage; prepare for delivery during labour/birth stage; and to help babies sleep, document/announce their birth, and to connect to parenting resources during the post-partum stage. Mothers used digital technologies to reassure themselves that their experiences were normal or to seek help when they were abnormal. Digital technologies provided mothers with convenient means to access health information from a range of sources yet mothers were apprehensive about the credibility and trustworthiness of the information they retrieved. Further research should seek to understand how men and fathers use digital technologies during their transition to parenting. Additionally, further research should critically examine how constant access to information effects mothers’ perceived need to self-monitor and further understand the unintended health consequences of constant surveillance on new parents.

scholarly journals “Let me know when I’m needed”: Exploring the gendered nature of digital technology use for health information seeking during the transition to parenting

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205520762110486
Author(s):  
Bradley Hiebert ◽  
Jodi Hall ◽  
Lorie Donelle ◽  
Danica Facca ◽  
Kim Jackson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Information Work ◽  
Transition To Parenting

This paper presents results of a qualitative descriptive study conducted to understand parents’ experiences with digital technologies during their transition to parenting (i.e. the period from pre-conception through postpartum). Individuals in southwest Ontario who had become a new parent within the previous 24 months were recruited to participate in a focus group or individual interview. Participants were asked to describe the type of technologies they/their partner used during their transition to parenthood, and how such technologies were used to support their own and their family's health. Focus group and interview transcripts were then subjected to thematic analysis using inductive coding. Ten focus groups and three individual interviews were conducted with 26 heterosexual female participants. Participants primarily used digital technologies to: (1) seek health information for a variety of reproductive health issues, and (2) establish social and emotional connections. The nature of such health information work was markedly gendered and was categorized by 2 dominant themes. First, “‘Let me know when I’m needed’”, characterizes fathers’ apparent avoidance of health information seeking and resultant creation of mothers as lay information mediaries. Second, “Information Curation”, captures participants’ belief that gender biases built-in to popular parenting apps and resources reified the gendered nature of health and health information work during the transition to parenting. Overall, findings indicate that digital technology tailored to new and expecting parents actively reinforced gender norms regarding health information seeking, which creates undue burden on new mothers to become the sole health information seeker and interpreter for their family.

Becoming a Digital Citizen in a Technological World

2009 ◽  
pp. 250-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Ribble
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
Global Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Technology Users ◽  
Technological World

In todays changing global society, digital technology users need to be prepared to interact and work with users from around the world. Digital technology is helping to define this new global society. Being part of a society provides opportunities to its citizens but also asks that its members behave in certain way. This new technological society is drawing users together to learn, share and interact with one another in the virtual world. But for all users to be productive there needs to be a defined level of acceptable activity by everyone, in other words a digital citizenship. The concept of digital citizenship provides a structure for this digital society, by conceptualizing and organizing appropriate technology use into a new digital culture. Anyone using these digital technologies needs to understand the parameters of appropriate use so that they can become more constructive digital citizens.

scholarly journals Clustering of services amid a growth in green consumption and digital technology use

2020 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 01028 ◽  
Author(s):  
N V Vasilenko ◽  
A J Linkov ◽  
O V Tokareva
Keyword(s):  
Service Provider ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Green Consumption ◽  
Service Support ◽  
The Third ◽  
Sustainability Problems

Clustering of services in the conditions of digital economy development is considered as a way of their integration with the purpose of increasing customer satisfaction, as well as that of strengthening the competitive position of service organizations based on the promotion of green consumption. Services are clustered with the aim of satisfying one main or several interconnected needs of individuals or businesses taking into account the degree with which the consumer influences the process of service delivery. This paper demonstrates how clustering of services can be used to solve sustainability problems. It is shown that digital technologies allow the service provider to customize a service to fit the needs and requirements of a particular consumer within the first type of clustering in the service sector, and they are also included in the service support of the main service within the second type of clustering. Moreover, these technologies have their own value for the consumer within the third type of clustering and provide tools for the fourth type of clustering. In general, digitalization promotes technologization and cooperation in service clusters. The authors suppose that further research can be done into how the types of clustering mentioned manifest themselves in different industries.

Digital Countercultures and the Struggle for Community

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessa Lingel
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Body Modification ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
College Dropouts ◽  
The Web

Whether by accidental keystroke or deliberate tinkering, technology is often used in ways that are unintended and unimagined by its designers and inventors. In this book, Jessa Lingel offers an account of digital technology use that looks beyond Silicon Valley and college dropouts-turned-entrepreneurs. Instead, Lingel tells stories from the margins of countercultural communities that have made the Internet meet their needs, subverting established norms of how digital technologies should be used. Lingel presents three case studies that contrast the imagined uses of the web to its lived and often messy practicalities. She examines a social media platform (developed long before Facebook) for body modification enthusiasts, with early web experiments in blogging, community, wikis, online dating, and podcasts; a network of communication technologies (both analog and digital) developed by a local community of punk rockers to manage information about underground shows; and the use of Facebook and Instagram for both promotional and community purposes by Brooklyn drag queens. Drawing on years of fieldwork, Lingel explores issues of alterity and community, inclusivity and exclusivity, secrecy and surveillance, and anonymity and self-promotion. By examining online life in terms of countercultural communities, Lingel argues that looking at outsider experiences helps us to imagine new uses and possibilities for the tools and platforms we use in everyday life.

scholarly journals Do pre-service teachers feel ready to teach with digital technologies? A study in two teacher training institutions in Costa Rica

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e11810111436
Author(s):  
Christiane Caneva
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Training Institutions ◽  
Academic Year

This study aims to identify both the level and frequency of digital technology use and perceived self-efficacy levels of pre-service teachers (n = 341). We collected data in Costa Rica through a survey during the 2016–2017 academic year; the survey includes closed-ended items on the use and frequency of digital technologies along with open-ended questions. Findings suggest that a majority of pre-service teachers frequently use digital technologies for both professional and private use and specifically the mobile phone and social media. Results further suggest they find themselves self-efficacious in the use of “traditional” digital technologies that are also used in teacher training by professors/teacher trainers such as laptop, email and video. They are less confident in using mobile phones and social media for teaching even though they use them extensively for their professional development.

scholarly journals A Review of Evidence on the Role of Digital Technology in Shaping Attention and Cognitive Control in Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vedechkina ◽  
Francesca Borgonovi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Future Research

The role of digital technology in shaping attention and cognitive development has been at the centre of public discourse for decades. The current review presents findings from three main bodies of literature on the implications of technology use for attention and cognitive control: television, video games, and digital multitasking. The aim is to identify key lessons from prior research that are relevant for the current generation of digital users. In particular, the lack of scientific consensus on whether digital technologies are good or bad for children reflects that effects depend on users’ characteristics, the form digital technologies take, the circumstances in which use occurs and the interaction between the three factors. Some features of digital media may be particularly problematic, but only for certain users and only in certain contexts. Similarly, individual differences mediate how, when and why individuals use technology, as well as how much benefit or harm can be derived from its use. The finding emerging from the review on the large degree of heterogeneity in associations is especially relevant due to the rapid development and diffusion of a large number of different digital technologies and contents, and the increasing variety of user experiences. We discuss the importance of leveraging existing knowledge and integrating past research findings into a broader organizing framework in order to guide emerging technology-based research and practice. We end with a discussion of some of the challenges and unaddressed issues in the literature and propose directions for future research.

scholarly journals The 'obvious' stuff: exploring the mundane realities of students' digital technology use in school

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Neil Selwyn ◽  
Selena Nemorin ◽  
Scott Bulfin ◽  
Nicola F Johnson
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Individual Study ◽  
School Work ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Work Scheduling

This paper explores the ways in which students perceive digital technology as being helpful and/or useful to their schooling. Drawing upon survey data from students (n=1174) across three Australian high schools, the paper highlights seventeen distinct digital ‘benefits’ in domains such as information seeking, writing and composition, accessing prescribed work, scheduling and managing study tasks. While these data confirm the centrality of such technologies to students’ experiences of school, they also suggest that digital technology is not substantially changing or ‘transforming’ the nature of schools and schooling per se. Instead, students were most likely to associate digital technologies with managing the logistics of individual study and engaging with school work in distinctly teacher-led linear and passive ways. As such, it is concluded that educationalists need to temper enthusiasms for what might be achieved through digital technologies, and instead develop better understandings of the realities of students’ instrumentally-driven uses of digital technology.

scholarly journals Investigation of Digital Technology Use in the Transition to Parenting (Preprint)

10.2196/25388 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorie Donelle ◽  
Jodi Hall ◽  
Bradley Hiebert ◽  
Kimberley Jackson ◽  
Ewelina Szynal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Transition To Parenting

scholarly journals Early years teachers and digital literacies: Navigating a kaleidoscope of discourses

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 2415-2426
Author(s):  
Karen Daniels ◽  
Kim Bower ◽  
Cathy Burnett ◽  
Hugh Escott ◽  
Amanda Hatton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Digital Literacies ◽  
Children's Literacy

AbstractFor many young children in developed countries, family and community life is mediated by digital technology. Despite this, for early years educators, the process of integrating digital technologies into classroom practice raises a number of issues and tensions. In an attempt to gain insights from early years teachers, we draw from semi-structured interview data from ten practising teachers which explored their perspectives on digital technologies within their personal and professional lives, and of children’s use of digital technologies within and outside educational settings. Our analysis builds on previous work that suggests that teachers draw on multiple discourses related to conceptualisations of childhood when thinking about digital technology and young children. In this paper we contribute to these discussions, drawing specifically on examples from the data where teachers articulate their understandings of children’s use of digital technology where this relates directly to children’s literacy practices. We assert that narrow conceptualized notions of literacy, compounded by national imperatives to raise print literacy standards, add another layer of discursive complexity that comes to the fore when teachers are asked to provide a rationale for the promotion of digital literacies in early years classrooms. A broader framing of literacy therefore, is needed if the potential of digital technologies in the early years is to be realized.

“A Large Can of Worms”

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy R. Betts ◽  
Karin A. Spenser
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Cyber Bullying ◽  
The Social ◽  
Perceived Impact

Digital technology use is increasingly impacting on the lives of young people. To gain a deeper understanding of the perceived impact of young people's digital technology use, 2 focus groups were conducted with 14 teachers recruited from 2 schools. The focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The analysis revealed three themes: changing social dynamics, risk and (ir)responsible behaviour, and disclosure and reporting of cyber bullying. Participants discussed how digital technology was shaping young people's social identity and impacting on established norms when interacting in the social arena. A number of benefits were attributed to technology use but participants also recognised young people's naivety and tendency to anthropomorphise the internet. Finally, there was a perception that young people underreported their experiences of cyber bullying and some of the challenges faced when tackling cyber bullying were discussed.

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