Health

**Lesson 10**

**WALT**: gain an understanding of what "digital health and well being" is and how it applies to our own lives as digital citizens

__**Introduction **__

 • As a class, brainstorm what the words "health"and "well-being" mean. Develop shared understandings and definitions.

 **__What is Digital Health and Well-Being?__**

 • Digital Health and Well-Being can be defined as the awareness and prevention of technological based problems. These are usually psychological or physical.  Source -

__**How much is too much? **__

According to Nielsen, teenagers in the U.S. sent and received an average of 3,276 texts per month in the last quarter of 2010. A Pew Research Center study from 2010 reported that more than four out of five teens with cellphones sleep with the phone on or near the bed, sometimes falling asleep with it in their hands in the middle of a conversation. Pew’s Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist, said “many expressed reluctance to ever turn their phones off.’’

Its getting to the point where hospitals are starting to see young patients who come in exhausted from being “on call’’ or semi-alert all night as they wait for their phones to vibrate or ring with a text.

Communication is an essential ingredient in all of our lives, but too much or too little can have devastating effects. With new communication channels springing to life in games, social media, and smartphone apps on a regular basis, people suffer great anxiety over not keeping up with their friends and family. And when they turn things off, they suffer even greater anxiety over feeling left out.

Effective ways of managing our communications is a critical skill currently not being taught in school.

Source - [|Futurist Thomas Frey]

__**Task**__

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Watch this video ...

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">[|Technology Overload Family Addiction]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">__** Discussion **__

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• What are the issues, as you see them, that are affecting this family <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• What decisions did this family make to try and get some balance back into their daily lives? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• What steps, if any, have you taken to unplug yourself? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• What steps, if any, has your family taken to "unplug" themselves?

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">Watch this slideshow ...

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">media type="custom" key="9136728"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">What is ergomomics?

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">media type="custom" key="9136646"

[|Information on cellphone use and health risks]

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Discussion **__

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">1. Have you or your family taken any steps at home to ensure your computers are set up properly to prevent injury? <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">2. What could we do as a class to ensure our own health and well being when using digital devices?

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Suggestions **__

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• Make sure you are not sitting too close to the monitor - about an arms length away for 40cm screens is recommended. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• At least every 20 minutes look away from the screen for at least 30 seconds <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• Remember to blink - we often blink a lot less when reading and looking at a screen, which causes eyes to be uncomfortable, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;"> blurred and dry <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">• Use enough lighting - inadequate light can force your eyes to work more and to make you move closer to the screen. Too much <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;"> light can lead to headaches and sore eyes.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;">__ **Task** __

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> • Write a reflection of what you now understand about "digital health and well being"

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> 1. Draft the reflection in your draft books <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> 2. Proof read and edit your writing <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> 3. Conference with teacher <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> 4. Publish your reflection on your blog, use the title - "My Reflections on Digital Health" <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> 5. Invite a friend to comment on your post. (Remember the rules for positive commenting)