EPALE - Elektronisk plattform för vuxnas lärande i Europa

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First published in Polish by Sylwia Kurszewska

Computers and the Internet have greatly revolutionised the world, and we see them as some of the greatest inventions in history. When I was a secondary school student, our computer science teacher was learning to use a computer. There was no denying it; she said so herself.

Today, eight-year-olds are much more computer literate than when I was twice their age. New technologies are developing at such a pace that many of us cannot keep up with the changes and innovations. Another generation and so much progress. Today, we wonder whether we will accept body chips or how artificial intelligence will interfere with education. If you are interested in the adult education sector, I recommend texts published on EPALE, including Bartłomiej Polakowski’s Sztuczna inteligencja w edukacji, Radek Czahajda’s Sztuczna inteligencja w edukacji: przyszłość uczenia się?,  Sławomir Łais’s blog post Trener kontra AI-trener. Zestaw pytań, które warto sobie zadać - Czy i w jaki sposób praca człowieka w edukacji zostanie zastąpiona przez komputer? and a tutorial by Piotr Maczuga linked to an educational video titled Jak sztuczna inteligencja (nie) pomaga nam w robieniu wideo.

^{Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash}

One side of the coin

We already know that, ironically, the global Sars-CoV2 coronavirus pandemic, which broke out in March 2020, has made us more dependent on new technologies. Whether we wanted to or not, as learners, parents and grandparents, teachers and professionals from many fields, we had to rely on new information and communication technologies. This was inevitable, especially as we are increasingly driven to use electronic services for simple official cases or to manage our own finances. The examples of how new technologies are changing our daily lives are plenty.

New technologies have been changing educational institutions at every level for many years in small steps. The pandemic has intensified these changes. There has been an improvement in infrastructure, especially in institutions where the introduction of such technologies has not been a priority. Staff training using new technologies is now the norm in schools. Headteachers have had to start working on changing the mentality of adults (learners, parents, teachers) and making them aware that it is possible and even necessary to use new technologies in education in a wise, sensible and useful way. Online events such as classes, webinars, seminars, faculty and teacher-parent meetings have become an everyday affair in many institutions, even though many restrictions caused by the pandemic have been lifted. For example, the recent experience of the Sopot Teacher Training Centre shows that online training is currently attracting a much (!) greater number of participants than traditional events.

Devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets have become important in the educational context. E-registers for parents of primary school children have made many things easier. No one is surprised anymore by lessons on YouTube or on learning platforms in adult education institutions. Work e-mails for all teaching and non-teaching staff and even students are now becoming a standard. We have become accustomed to school fan pages on Facebook and closed and open teacher or student groups on social media. Moreover, various types of communicators are used by teachers to contact parents, students and colleagues.

This is one side of the coin, the better one. Let us now look at the other.

The other side of the coin

Who among us has not heard of occupational burnout? It is a common syndrome today. The term was coined already in the 1970s. Initially, occupational burnout was associated with the helping professions. We now know that the syndrome can affect any worker. Occupational burnout is defined as the body’s response to stress caused by work. According to the World Health Organisation, the three main symptoms of burnout syndrome are, first of all, “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion,” secondly, “feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job”, and finally, “significantly reduced professional efficacy.”^[1]

Today, there is more and more talk about burnout related to using new technologies at work. From the time when researchers started to quantify occupational stress in the IT industry, the statistics on burnout in this field are shocking and make us aware of the scale of the problem. I will mention just a few. Deloitte reports that 77% of corporate employees in the US have experienced burnout in their current job, and 70% said their employers were not doing enough to prevent or mitigate burnout. 57% of percent of employees (out of 11,500 tech company respondents) suffered from occupational burnout (data from May 2018).^[2] A study published by Haystack Analytics shows that as many as 83% of 258 respondents suffered from occupational burnout. The situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused technology to play an increasingly central role in our reality. The current figures are not optimistic.

The problem of growing IT burnout had become increasingly apparent in educational institutions, especially during the pandemic, when many of us switched to remote work. Many of us see remote work from the perspective of advantages, improved efficiency and better work-life balance. Unfortunately, the times have also unleashed various destructive personality traits and psychological tendencies in some of those who work from home (e.g., procrastination, over-engagement, pushing boundaries to not ever having the company laptop closed or prioritising the corporate messenger over sleep hygiene, etc.).

Perhaps you also used to love working at your computer. Did you like computer classes or classes with a lot of technological novelties? Then something happened, and you do not even know when? Now you avoid discussions, give up arguing your point, or get into conflicts with your colleagues more often, or you are constantly irritated. Your irritation spills over into your private life. You do not want to go to school or work. You are tired and stressed. You find it difficult to concentrate all the time. Is this just a bad week, or is it burnout?

The time has come to accept IT burnout as a fact and understand it better. In this digital transformation era, we are all starting to be under constant pressure from new technologies and faster implementation. As they proliferate, burnout is spreading. IT and occupational burnout often come up as a common issue in psychotherapy sessions, which is confirmed by the professional counsellors, psychologists and even a general practitioner I know.

Although burnout has been precisely defined and used in science for a long time, it has been referred only to adults and mainly in a work context. Meanwhile, more and more Polish schoolchildren and their parents experience chronic stress caused by the increasing pace of life, growing expectations and demands, and too much information and responsibilities. Undoubtedly, this can also be linked to the development of new technologies. Experts are beginning to talk about the phenomenon of student burnout, which is expressed by a decrease in motivation, feelings of long-term stress and lower self-esteem. Subsequently, students might stop deriving satisfaction from learning and feel overworked and unappreciated. School councillors and educators are sounding the alarm that our children need help. It has long been a concern that children and young people spend more time online via smartphones and computers. This has various implications (some bad and some good).

For several months now, I have been intensively wondering to what extent the rapid development of new technologies, as well as the pandemic as such have affected the situation. After all, many of us studied and worked remotely, whilst employers did not control the working conditions. As employees, we did not always pay attention to occupational health and even less so did children. Most of my friends who switched to working remotely did this in a reclining position, on their favourite sofa, with their PCs on their laps. Working from home, we usually organised our own schedule, and the hours were often longer than when we worked at our employer’s premises.

Extinguishing burnout

Any type of burnout (be it occupational, IT, technological or student) needs to be taken seriously, no matter how much new technologies influence it. It is a signal that should not be ignored. More and more often, I think that it is up to managers, directors and leaders to help employees develop positive responses to stress in the workplace. If such support is lacking, we have to cope on our own. An increasing number of articles are available to help us realise if we have been affected by burnout. Many accurately describe the symptoms/warning signs and provide sound advice and suggestions.

To effectively fight your unwillingness to work or study, you should take a break from the computer. Avoid the feeling of being chained to the screen. This is my way of coping. Taking care of yourself is the first step towards solving the problem of burnout. So, make sure you get plenty of sleep, eat well, get exercise, and have someone to talk to. Because when we do suffer from burnout, it is not a matter of a particular job but, instead, of nurturing our own lives.

Sylwia Kurszewska – works with Centrum Kształcenia Ustawicznego in Sopot, where she coordinates a team for international projects concerning various social groups. She is an educator and chairperson of Praca–Edukacja–Zdrowie, an association for the socially excluded or threatened with exclusion. She is also an EPALE Ambassador.

Further reading:

Our Friendly Home in Sopot – only such place in Poland

Bibliography:

^[1] definition of burnout from the ICD-11 registry

^[2] cit. za: Blind Blog – Workplace Insights