Hello and welcome everyone to this presentation titled: Impact of Intrinsic Factors and COVID-19
Pandemic on the Use of Technology
My name is Ala Sarah Alaqra, and I am a senior
lecturer at Information Systems Karlstad university
in Sweden
This work has been done with my colleague Agnieszka Kitkowska
And today I will be presenting a brief account of our work
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, known as COVID-19 has affected our lives in many ways
from social isolation and remote working to managing our wellbeing and everyday living
Apart from the risk of being infected by the COVID-19 disease, indirect risks to one’s
health are a consequence of restrictions enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic
According to the World Health Organization , health is defined as the ``state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity''
People everywhere are limiting their social interactions, working from home, and avoiding
unnecessary gatherings at the very least
Such limitations to current lifestyles alongside the reduced physical activities and encounters
do have consequences to the overall well-being
ICT- Information and communications technology has played an important role in facilitating
activities and providing services
for communication, learning, entertainment, and health purposes
In our study, we investigated people's perspectives on the role of technology
during the pandemic of COVID-19 Therefore our research questions are
1. What are the effects of COVID-19 on technology usage by participants?
And 2. What intrinsic factors such as, health consciousness, perceived isolation, concerns
about tracking and pandemic, contribute to changes in the use of technology in different contexts?
In our empirical investigation, we used an online survey. The survey contained questions about
technology use pre-pandemic and during-pandemic. The contexts of using technology
that we inquired about were for: work, gathering information/education,
entertainment, health, and communication. We also measured perceived isolation, loneliness
and social support, and health consciousness We included an open-ended question about
COVID-19 and its impact on technology use and potential self-reported behavioral changes
There were 218 responses in total, including the 72 who responded to the open question
The average completion time was 4.4 minutes
Our survey results show a significant increase in technology use in all investigated contexts
mostly in work and communication contexts after the pandemic occurred
Perceived social isolation, concerns about the pandemic, and tracking of COVID-19 are the
intrinsic factors which have the most prominent influence on different uses of technology
It seems that using technology for entertainment could be a coping mechanism to counteract
loneliness and mental health effects of COVID-19
Our results imply that pandemic concerns might increase the use of technology for work
however, a high level of loneliness might push people away from it
This might be interpreted as a signal that loneliness could potentially decrease work and productivity
It is important to consider the long-term effects of loneliness
and prolonged isolation on mental health. As for our qualitative results from the open
ended question: 3 main themes were highlighted 1. is "beneficial opportunities" example is: increased
productivity and learning new technologies. 2. is "concerns and consequences" for example
loneliness and extended screen time. And finally 3. is "behavioral transformations & adaptations"
due to COVID-19 for example constant use of devices and dependency on online shopping
This concludes the presentation of our short study
Thank you for your attention, and now we can answer your questions