Assessment of indicators of students» physical and psychological health in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Digitalization of the educational process gradually developed in parallel with the introduction of digital tools into people»s daily lives. Prolonged contact with media can negatively affect students» self-esteem and the awareness of personal value, as well as causes excessive stress. It is particularly noted that any dependence on the use of infor mation technology increases the risk to the health of children and studying adolescents. However, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), the problem of education digitalization became particularly acute: it was necessary to conduct classes, test stu dents» knowledge, and check homework completely in a remote mode. The need for such an urgent revision of the education system caused rapid development and introduction of new digital technologies into the educational programs of many educational institutions. Despite the fact that at present there is no need to conduct various events remotely, meth ods of blended or distance learning are still present in the activities of many educational organizations. Nevertheless, it is essential to note an unhealthy trend among students that qualitatively affects their health: during the epidemic, the amount of gadget use time sig nificantly increased compared to the norms of the SanPiN. In addition, forced self-isolation had a negative impact on health. Constant presence in the same environment negatively affected the psycho-emotional state of children, entailing general asthenization, a partic ular manifestation of which often was the development of affective disorders. This article discusses the results of an empirical study assessing the impact of distance learning on the physical and psychological state of students. The survey of both students and their parents was conducted. This made it possible to identify subjective and objective assessments of the risk factors impact. Analyzing the results, it becomes obvious that digitalization of the educational process has a negative impact on the psycho-emotional and physical condi tion of students, leading to a loss of educational motivation, behavior changes, decreased performance, and other negative consequences. The relationship between the introduction of distance learning and the development of stress in students was studied.