Beyond Digital Citizenship: A Path to Digital Well-Being

Purpose & objective

Eighty-five percent of Americans own a smartphone, but only 15% of users ever change a default setting. They are largely untrained consumers. Americans are spending, however, an average of 3 hours and 11 minutes a day on the device. When other screen media such as tablets and laptops are included, this figure balloons, to averaging more than 7 hours a day of screentime.

Unhealthy and excessive technology use is rampant among Americans due to our lack of understanding about how our devices work and the dangers housed within them. When we adopted our devices, there were no pre-existing ground rules or guidance. Therefore, usage patterns conformed to the designs of the software, creating new behavior patterns, many of which are increasingly in opposition to individual best interest.

This lack of understanding and training on healthy tech usage has led to a myriad of problems related to workplace performance, human interactions, and individual well-being. By arming educators, parents and the public with information and interventions to stave off behaviors that lead to compulsive digital overuse, individuals can reduce unwanted tech habits and replace them with behaviors that grow connection with others, improve workplace productivity, and enhance overall well-being.

This presentation will provide an overview of the human and technological components that combine to create patterns of misuse and outline the behavioral impact of it. The presenters will then outline alternative strategies and specific behavioral and technological changes that can be employed to improve positive technology use. This information and skills will help educators address their own digital hygiene as well as provide a framework for engaging students and parents on these important topics.

Outline

• From Digital Citizenship to Digital Well-Being
o Overview & Introductions – 1 Min
o Smartphone Compulsion Test – 5 Min (Interactive Quiz)
o The How of Happiness – 5 Min
o Subjective Happiness Scale
o What Determines Happiness?
o Common Happiness Myths
o Science – Backed Activities to Improve Happiness
o Making & Breaking Habits – 5 Min
o Habits vs. Addiction: How do you tell the difference?
o How Do We Form Habits?
o How Do You Build Good Habits
o How Do You Break Bad Habits
o Software & Hardware Design – 5 Min
o The Attention Economy
o The Tricks of the Trade
o Technology & Mental Health – 5 Min
o The Truth About Multitasking
o Your Phone is Changing Your Brain
o Stress, Sleep and Satisfaction
o Social Media and Mental Health
o What is Digital Well-Being – 5 Min
o Definitions of Digital Well-Being
o The Digital Flourishing Wheel
o Agency & Ownership in a Digital World – 5 Min
o Benefits of More Intentional Approach
o The Indistractable Model
o Tools for Developing New Digital Habits – 5 Min
o How to Take Back Your Life
o Best Practices for Social Comparison
o Tools for Relationship & Productivity Enhancement – 5 Min
o How Can Social Media Enhance Connection?
o How Can Technology Disrupt Connection?
o Test Results – 5 Min
o Questions – 10 Min

• Interactive Quiz (10 Min)
• Visual Presentation w/ Audience Polling (45 Min)
• Audience Questions (10 Min)

Supporting research

o How to Break Up with Your Phone, by Catherine Price
o Atomic Habits, by James Clear
o Indistractable by Nir Eyal
o The Future of Happiness by Amy Blankson
o The How of Happiness by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky
o Digital Wellness, Your Playbook for Thriving in the Remote Work Era by Digital Wellness Institute
o “The Work” by Byron Katie
o Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything by BJ Fogg
o Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick by Wendy Wood
o The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
o Commonsense Media
o The Center for Humane Technology