The Enforced Digital Literacy: People’s Mentality & The Pandemic

Introduction to the problem

‘Mindset’ has various implications. We can consider India as somewhere technologically handicapped. But however, in the present scenario, we can add it ‘was’. The ‘mindset’ that I have mentioned above is in relation to a particular section of society. The section who despite having all the latest technologies, want to continue with the old methods. These are methods that they have been using since they started working. The article will make you understand the actual aspects of enforced digital literacy and its impacts on people’s mentality. You will also know how the pandemic has been affecting enforced digital literacy and in turn the people’s mentality.

The enforced digital literacy in the teaching profession

We can consider various professions to explain this statement. In the teaching profession, young teachers are well versed with all the recent technologies and are comfortable with them. In recent times, almost every school facilitates smart boards, projectors, and other modern teaching aids. As we know that children can learn better by seeing, and they can regain it for a longer time. But many teachers, especially when we consider the aged group are in habit of teaching on the blackboard. That’s why despite being well equipped with technologies they don’t want to change their way of teaching. This is because it is easier and more comfortable for them.

Because of the undue pressure as a result of the pandemic, everyone is learning to deal with the latest gadgets. This is because they don’t have any other option. They cannot leave their future generation to lag behind in their studies. We can consider it as a plus point of this pandemic. Now almost everyone (though under pressure) is adapting to modern gears of education and businesses as well. Teachers are taking classes on zoom, google meet and other similar apps. In the beginning, this was a tough deal but in one’s own good time, everyone is getting comfortable with it. These platforms also facilitate live webinars and are more convenient for the participants.

The service sector and the enforced digital literacy

In the services sector, technology has come so far. Now we can finish almost all day-to-day task with a computer within no time. But here too, people who are habitual with old techniques are reluctant to adopt new ones. So here again, this scenario of the pandemic has resulted in enhanced use of latest technologies. In present times,  almost every company is following the policy of ‘work from home’. So this has also forced people to learn new methods and technologies to cope in present conditions.  Because they knew they would be losing their jobs if they don’t adapt fast. People are getting more and more familiar with their work format. In the beginning, it was a tough task, but slowly people have adapted. They can now avoid the burden of papers by working with paperless technologies. Their work would be more efficient and productive.

Conclusive Remarks            

But as we know every coin has two sides. Spontaneous adoption of technology in almost all spheres of our day to day life has some serious ill-effects too. Long hours of work on computers have led to ‘Digital eye strain’ among people. Many people are suffering from headache, mental stress, fatigue, etc. Now we can conclude the mentality of people towards accepting and adapting to modern technologies. This will continue to play a major role in the technological development of a nation and it’s people which is crucial to keep up with the rapidly transforming world.

Author:
Amrita Singh
MA Economics