Technology + Leisure + Work = ???

Now we have moved on to looking at how technology has impacted on the human occupations of work and leisure and the implications for occupational therapy practice.

Alongside this week's content is an activity to complete. I have chosen:

Activity: Informing Practice

Find a blog or website (either from the course blog or via searching the net) that is being used to inform occupational therapy practice. Make a link to your own blog and post a comment on the following questions.  Any sites found and deemed valuable by students can be added to the course blog.

1. Describe the site and its focus
2. Who is using the site is there an active membership?
3. What information and support is being shared?
4. What is your own opinion on the value of this site.

But before I continue, I have to discuss my opinion on the influence technology has on work and leisure occupations undertaken by people...
Let's describe/define what work means in the occupational context: 

Work is:

Activity producing an enduring object.Work requires self-investment, skill, craft and personal judgment. Work is purposeful and meaningful Work is meaningful. distinct from labour and must be discovered independently from one’s job.
T.F.Green (1968)

 

Leisure is:

 

Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping, attending school, and doing homework.

The distinction between leisure and unavoidable activities is loosely applied, i.e. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility.^[1] A distinction may also be drawn between free time and leisure. For example, Situationist International maintains that free time is illusory and rarely free; economic and social forces appropriate free time from the individual and sell it back to them as the commodity known as "leisure. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leisure retrieved 25/3/2011).


As I've previously identified; technology has changed SO many aspects about the way in which people conduct their lives. the impact of technology upon leisure and work may be two of the most significant areas of occupations that have been impacted upon.

Think about it. If you ask a 80 year old what they used to do for a leisurely activity when they were 20 years old, they'd say reading, or craft making or something along those lines. If you asked the next 20year old you came across today, the same question, they'd most likely list activities such as: xbox gaming, online gaming, going on to social network sites, making/taking movies and photos etc. BIG difference. 

If you asked a 40 - 50 year old what they do for leisure, they may say walking, social networking, catching up with friends over a coffee, blogging etc ... they are at an age where they can still appreciate non-technological leisure activities AND adapt to the leisures that new technologies can provide.


I'm proud to have leisure activities in both realms of life (dare I define life as technological and non-technological realms!), I enjoy reading, writing, drawing, walking, playing music, listening to music on tech devices, taking photographs, social networking, exploring on the internet etc.


Digital technology has influenced work too; "some would say technology has provided us with
more efficiency. We can get through larger amounts of work. Numerous tasks have been
automated and information has become more accessible" (Sunderland, 2007) and I've found some lengthy perspectives below...


Here is a website address (retrieved 25/3/2011) exploring the ways in which technology assists the occupation of work; 

http://www.ehow.com/about_5232120_impact-information-technology-jobs.html 

 

The below website is a CNN snippet about how technology has made leisurely activities more easier (in this day and age):

 http://articles.cnn.com/2007-03-29/us/leisure.overview_1_leisure-time-professor-of-leisure-studies-geoffrey-godbey?_s=PM:US

Other websites explore technology's influence on many aspects of society (including work and leisure): 

 

http://www.benmeadowcroft.com/reports/impact/

http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201010/2169454741.html