Today I came across an interesting story on Reuters: Popular gadgets may make painful Christmas presents, which reminds us about repetitive strain injuries (RSI) that can be caused by high-tech gadgets. And gadgets are no longer used just for fun; they are now an integral part of our everyday lives and are now increasingly present even in learning (which is something I even try to promote). And here I wonder - do we, as e-learning enthusiasts, give enough thought to health problems that new technologies might be causing? We all want to use the power of modern technology, but how often do we talk about its proper usage, the importance of taking breaks during work or proper sitting or typing positions? Are our students aware of these problems at all? Why aren't we talking about this in our schools? And actually, I'm writing this post while wearing a wrist band because of the pains I got after a few days of intensive at least 8-hours long typing plus of course "leisure" browsing.

So, what can we do about this "disease of modern times"? I think that as educators we should be talking about this with our students when discussing new technologies and letting them know about safe and healthy technology usage. And also we should take better care of ourselves and take regular short breaks from work if we have to work with computers for a longer period of time. The best way to fight something is as always to learn about the enemy, so here are some useful links about this topic:
... and of course a lot more can be found on Google.


Originally published at http://ialja.blogspot.com/2006/12/painful-e-life.html