If you missed the Digital Skills Summit last month here’s the feedback from Paul Levy, Author of Digital Inferno and what he discussed in his workshop:
- We looked at some of the physical and psychological skills that are emerging in our use of digital devices and platforms.
- We asked about the impact of digital addiction and distraction on our working lives and how this might form the basis of a new kind of training and development for staff.
What were the key points made?
- We do not use our digital devices and products very mindfully
- We need to practice "placement" (More here: https://digitalinferno.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/digital-placement-at-work/)
- placing our digital activity in time, physically in space is key - doing work in our bedrooms at 2am is not always professional nor effective (not everyone at the session agreed with that and gave good examples of how 24-7 flow can be business critical)
- Many of the skills needed to manage our digital life are not taught and there is little research in this area
- Our digital devices can harm our health if we use them too much, do not sit properly - Repetitive strain syndrome is just one example
What were the action points?
- a need for more specific training in this area
- looking more mindfully at how and when we work digitally
- getting more clued up (some participants) on device settings e.g. notifications and alerts
- looking at apps that can help us to work smarter
Overall we focused on some of the core skills and even looked at how compulsive tweeting can damage communication. There is going to be push back around these new skills, especially ones which suggest habit change and limiting our digital time.
Thanks to Paul for facilitating the group workshop and for the feedback.
The full round up blog for the Digital Skills Summit is here.
The Digital Skills Summit: Powered by Wired Sussex was supported by The Regional Growth Fund and Sussex Learning Network.
