During this coronavirus pandemic, life has been completely altered for some people. Daily routines are completely different. People can’t just stop in a store and get what they need anymore or go get a haircut. But for some people it is more serious than that. People who are not in good health and usually have weekly or monthly doctor’s appointments or have to go to the pharmacy every couple days may have trouble getting there. Most doctor’s offices and pharmacies remain open, but there is a risk in going to them, especially for people who already have medical problems.

A San-Francisco based company called Zipline, plans to ease these stressors for people with chronic health issues. This company has been using drones to deliver medical supplies to hospitals and health care centers in Africa since 2016. They now are looking into expanding into the U.S. to help reduce risks of getting medical supplies and even free up hospital beds. In Africa, doctors are able to order supplies off of their phones and receive them quickly. The drones can make deliveries up to 50 miles away and can carry up to four pounds. They are delivered to the ground using small parachutes. Zipline was already planning to expand to the U.S. in 2020 but now hope to be able to help with the coronavirus pandemic. Technology like this might be able to make a huge difference during a time like this and can help stop the spread of the coronavirus by allowing people to stay in their homes.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/tech/zipline-drones-coronavirus-spc-intl/index.html

The coronavirus pandemic has changed daily life as we know it completely. People who used to spend 40+ hours in the office are now doing the same job, but all from home. Departments have laid off many employers, but still have been able to get the same amount and quality of work done. This pandemic has shown many businesses that the “normal” work conditions they had before were not actually necessary. Maybe businesses don’t need to have as long as hours, or can have many less days of their employers actually being in the office. And some departments may have realized that they have 10 people doing a job that 5 people could easily do. When things return to “normal,” some companies might have a new normal that includes cutting hours, allowing employees to work from home more often, and even laying off some people who actually weren’t necessary. It might also show people how important is it to take a step back from work life sometimes and focus on family and life outside of work.

The NFL Draft which happened this past weekend was all done virtually, which has never been done before. Everybody involved was in their own homes and had set up a camera to communicate with other players, coaches, and analysts. Although I do think that this took away from the draft, because the players weren’t able to physically be there and hug their friends and families and meet their new teams, the virtual draft was overall successful. The Detroit Lions general manager, Bob Quinn, said that being forced to have the draft and do the work leading up to the draft virtually opened his eyes to a new way of working. He said it showed him how to have more balance between his work and family life, and in the future to possibly even work a few days virtually from home, in order to spend more time with his children, especially in the off-season. He thought that the draft was a cool experience this year because his children got to be in the room with him the whole time and see what their father does. He says that people working in the NFL spend a lot of time in the office and away from their families, but he hopes that in the future they can use this experience to change their work ethic and make their employees’ lives a little easier.

Virtual NFL Draft Gives Lions GM New Perspective On Work-Life Balance

With all schooling being online now, it raises concern about what students are to do that do not have access to a computer. In poorer areas, lots of students don’t have smartphones or laptops that they can use to continue their classes. School districts are struggling with this problem, and many don’t have the funding to provide their students with the technology that they need to continue their education. This is a prime example of the digital divide. Some school districts were able to transition flawlessly to virtual learning because their students and the district had access to state of the art technology. For other schools, when they heard that learning would be online for the rest of the school year, they felt a wave of panic. The main problem with mandatory all online schooling is that it assumes that everyone has the ability to do this. Some districts and families just don’t have the money to make this possible. This is a big problem because it could lead to many students, and even whole districts falling behind and possibly not even being able to complete this school year.

A school district near where I live, Woodland Hills, was facing this problem. Their students mainly come from lower income families, so when classes became virtual, many didn’t have the proper technology to continue their learning at home. The principal of the school says that everything keeps changing so quickly and it can be hard to adapt. He thinks it is his responsibility to make sure that all of his students have the necessary tools to learn. In March, he started taking laptops from their school library and delivering them to students, but quickly realized that there were just not enough. He then started a fundraiser to raise money for the district to buy Chromebooks for all students and contacted a non-profit organization for more help. Because of this, the district was able to purchase 650 Chromebooks. He then had to distribute all of these laptops to the students and help them to get internet access. He realized that each family may need more than one device, so they he had to work on getting those as well.

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/heroes-woodland-hills-principal-helped-students-get-technology-for-online-learning/

At a time like this, when the world is going through a pandemic that prevents people from being together, it’s easy for people to feel alone. Our current situation is causing a lot of people extra stress, anxiety, and even depression. Many people feel lost being trapped in their homes all alone, unable to see anybody or go anywhere. Humans were made to be social beings and to crave human interaction. Even though we technically can still “see” our friends and family (from 6 feet away), we are still all missing the element of physical touch and closeness. Something as simple as a pat on the shoulder or a hug is very important for a lot of people’s well-being.

Studies show that a certain part of a person’s brain is activated when spending quality time with other, but when we feel alone, a different part of the brain is activated. People who are lonely feel more negative emotions all together. One way to help this is to recognize when you feel lonely, and then try to change these thoughts into something more positive.

In the past, a time like this would’ve been even more detrimental to many people’s mental health. Today, at least we have our technology like phones and computers to keep us all connected. We are able to text and call each other and even use FaceTime and Zoom to have some sort of face-to-face interactions. While using technology and social media is better than nothing, it still lacks nonverbal cues such as smiles or glances. We rely on these nonverbal cues to assess the attitude or tone of a conversation. This causes people to be more likely to assume that a conversation is not friendly. FaceTime and Zoom can eliminate some of these things because you can at least see the other person. Although this is a tough time for everyone, we need to be thankful that technology allows us to still be together even when we can not be together.

https://theconversation.com/the-neuroscience-of-loneliness-and-how-technology-is-helping-us-136093

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, almost all colleges have moved their graduations to virtual commencements. This is hard on college students, who have looked forward to going to their college graduation for most of their lives. To try to make things at least a little better, many celebrities have signed up to speak at these virtual commencements. This was made possible thanks to a new podcast by iHeartMedia. Celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Halsey, Hillary Clinton, John Legend, and Pitbull have all agreed to record a speech for the podcast, which will debut on May 15th. The podcast is titled “Speeches for the Class of 2020.” Other speakers that will be included are Abby Wambach, Katie Couric, Bobbi Brown, Chelsea Handler, Kesha, Eli Manning, Khalid, Tim McGraw, and Sienna Miller.

In the past something like this would have never been possible. Thanks to the advanced technology today, people are able to still connect with one another over the Internet. This is very important, especially at a time like this when human contact is so rare, but still so important. Thanks to technology like the Internet, podcasts, and Zoom, people are able to still be “face to face” and have at least some sense of normalcy. Especially when it comes to college graduation, which is such an important milestone in people’e lives, it is important that they have at least some memories of a real college graduation. I think iHeartMedia’s idea to have this podcast and to have celebrities speak at their commencements is a very good idea because it will give graduates something positive to look forward to in an otherwise upsetting situation. Also, this gives a positive side to the virtual graduation, because if commencements were still in person, the graduates probably wouldn’t have this opportunity to hear from these celebrities.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/entertainment/commencement-speeches-for-the-class-of-2020/index.html