How Technology Can Benefit Your Family

It can be really easy to feel as though your children spend too much time using technology such as spending time on games consoles, their mobile phone and computers. You may even encounter a stroppy teenager when you ask them to put their phone down during dinner or when spending family time together. There is no avoidance, that technology has had an impact on everyday family life. 

Certain pieces of tech and the internet have enabled families to have options that weren’t in existence just a decade ago. It’s even impacted the way that families communicate with each other and the way they plan their time.  From instant messaging, texting, Facebook, Facetime and Skype, it is now possible to keep in touch with anyone at any time. It’s being said that technology is helpful in the way it helps families to communicate better and more conveniently. 

Not only this but technology has brought about advances in other areas of general family life, including work, child development and education. Let’s have a look at some of the ways you can embrace technology and have it benefit your family life: 

Finance And Work 

With the advances in technology, more and more families are embracing a digital lifestyle. They’re using it as a way to provide a better balance between family life and professional life. Going to work used to include long commutes and the need to be at your desk from 9 to 5 every day, however, digital technology has opened up the option of remote working. Being able to control your emails, use remote access, have Skype meetings and even manage your data with purgeable storage has made it possible for many people with families to work from anywhere, and with much more family-friendly hours. 

With the advances in this area becoming stronger, more employers are now offering this option to their employees. Working from home is allowing more families to spend quality time together and is helping to reduce fuel and childcare costs. It can also help to efficiently control household management. You can use it as a tool to help shopping, banking, paying bills and take advantage of apps that help you to create family schedules and track budgets. 

Communication

Despite having crazy schedules, it is now easier than ever to communicate with your family. Whether the kids have extracurricular activities, you have work, there’s a trip planned or errands to run,  you can keep in constant contact if you need it. You can check in with each other at any point with a quick text, phone call, instant message and Facetime. It can also provide you with a piece of mind, knowing that you can reach your children in case of an emergency. You can also use technology to maintain and strengthen relationships with grandparents and other relatives that may live far away. You can instantly update them through email and platforms like Facebook and even speak to them face to face with Skype and facetime. Some people even choose to create Instagram accounts and websites as a way to share important milestones. 

It can sometimes be difficult to get your children to open up to you about certain aspects of their life, especially if they’re teenagers. Having Facebook and Instagram social media accounts can enable parents to have an insight into the places, people and events that are considered important to their teen. You can even use it a way to comment and communicate about issues in the world. 

Great Education Tool 

The internet has given us instant access to information at any time of the night and day. Coursework from school, college or university used to mean hours of time looking through books, catalogue and many trips to the library, however, our kids now have access to all the information that need online. You can even have instant access to the news of the world directly to your phone. 

The use of e-learning and educational technology is being used more and more each day. You are now able to take course solely online without ever stepping foot in a classroom, making education more accessible and flexible. Children are now even being asked to email their coursework and homework directly to the teacher for marking. Online forums allow them to ask questions to other students and teacher. Parents are now even able to track their children’s academic progress online and speak to the teachers themselves. It makes it much easier for working parents. 

Technology is even making changes to the classroom, teachers are now using projectors, computers and specialised, interactive while boards to make the lesson much more engaging for their students. 

Your Children’s Development 

You may worry that your children are just mindlessly spending time on their technology devices, however, it could actually be contributing to your child’s social and mental development. Video games can increase hand/eye coordination. You can download educational apps that can help the children to read, write and even learn a second language. If your children love to read, then they can get an app that allows them to read books on their phone or tablet. There are also various apps that are designed to help children learn shapes, numbers and colours, they’re in the style of a game so it makes it easy for children to become engaged. 

Technology can also help prepare your child fro school. The apps and games teach bais skills like matha and reading and also help them to gain problem-solving skills, start to critically think and get used to strategic thinking. These are all essential to academic success. 

Some parents really don’t like their children to play games, however, it teaches kids to pay attention to details and focus. These kinds of skills are needed for success in school and late in life. Playing games that involve levels can teach your children the value of competition, motivation and persistence. 

Not only this, it opens up a world of hidden skills and creative talents. You will find that your children will find new interests and want to learn about things like geography, art, music and travel as the internet can be used a form of self-expression with videos, writing and music. 

Parents are always very concerned about the negative impact of technology. Yes, there can be certain risks involved with sharing our lives on the internet, that children may not fully understand. It’s your responsibility as a parent to guide and educate your children in this are. 

These are just four ways that technology can benefit your family, do you have any others that you can share in the comments below?