Technology need not be the enemy in the fight for better mental health

an article by Emily Reynolds published in the Guardian

New digital technology is being touted as a quick, cost-effective way to deliver therapy. But it mustn’t become the only option


‘Digital interventions are a useful tool, but are not sufficient on their own – they’re simply one weapon in what should be an arsenal of options for young people.’ Photograph: Christopher Thomond

Effective treatment for children with mental illnesses is a pressing issue – so much so, in fact, that a huge chunk of the recent NHS long-term plan was dedicated to it. It’s long overdue: child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) are suffering from both lack of funding and under resourcing, with young people subsequently forced to wait months or even years for treatment.

The plan has numerous suggestions: more money pumped into services, for one, an overhaul of crisis care, early intervention. But, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), there could be another way to combat the issue: apps. They’re recommending that the NHS administer cognitive behavioural therapy via phones and computers – therapy specifically designed to help five- to eight-year-olds.

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Alternative citizenship models: Contextualizing new media and the new “good citizen”

an article by Neta Kligler-Vilenchik (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) published in New Media & Society Volume 19 Issue 11 (November 2017)

Abstract

Much current literature examines ways in which civic norms and practices are being enacted, developed and experimented with in the realm of new media.

Yet an open question pertains to the role the new media environment plays in this process: Are changes in civic conceptions reliant on new media, or is it an arena in which such changes are enacted and enhanced?

This essay addresses this question by contextualizing citizenship models that theorize the role of new media, as part of a broader paradigm of “alternative citizenship models”. What threads together this paradigm is an argument about a change in what constitutes “good citizenship”; a change seen not as a decline from a previous standard, but as the manifestation of a new citizenship model.

This article maps the landscape of alternative citizenship models and investigates the role of new media in reshaping citizenship.

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How much is Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Digitized? Insights from Teacher Education

Jens Riehemann and Regina Jucks (University of Münster, Germany) published in International Journal of Higher Education Volume 6 Number 3 (2017)

Abstract

The digital age has changed how we communicate, inform ourselves, and even how we teach and learn. This study systematically analyses and compares the perspectives of university academics (N = 75) and university students (N = 206) from the field of teacher education on digitized teaching and learning.

In a between-subjects design, participants of both groups were asked for their perspectives on dealing with digital media (i.e., general assessment of digital media, use of different media types and the role of digital media in university courses).

Furthermore, they were asked for their own and their anticipated perspectives of each other, in particular, their assumed advantages of using digital media in university teaching.

In sum, the findings indicate that it might be fruitful for university academics and students to exchange their views on the use of digital media for teaching and learning in higher education.

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