How should our product be used, and what distinguishes it from other available products?

 

    Our product is intended to help parents cope, adapt, and care for their children during this unprecedented and stressful time. The platform we have chosen to communicate this advice distinguishes it from others due to its accessibility, simplicity, and organization. Using a blogging platform to communicate these methods allows parents to easily check it on any computer or smartphone. This allows them to reference the information quickly, and also look back on it when they are on-the-go, or busy with their kids. The platform we chose to utilize also adapts to a smartphone screen, making the website easier to understand and navigate on smaller devices. A blog differs from a traditional research presentation due to it’s multi-dimensional, but easy to navigate nature. This allows for our information to be sectioned according to the themes we carefully identified amongst literature, and also by our chosen theories. Parents can easily navigate the site through the menu feature, which provides links to each of these sections on our blog. The ease of use is important, especially when there has been so much information shared during this time. Whether it be through the news media, social media, or just on TV, it can be overwhelming for parents to sift through it all. This platform makes a seamless transition between our several chosen theories and themes, while keeping it simple for parents to get the information they want to help their children succeed. 

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What are the implications of the effective use of the product?

 

    Effective use of this product has a variety of implications for families. As it has been stated numerous times on this blog, this is a difficult time for families. Routines have shifted, kids are learning at home, and anxieties have been high. This product provides theory and research-based evidence to help parents deal with the stresses that come with living through the pandemic. Effective use of these materials could help ease parents' anxieties about online education for their children through providing them with ways to help both themselves and their child adapt to the new situation. This could be through establishing a new routine that works for their family, or focusing on quality educational time over quantity.

 These materials can also help parents foster children’s emotional intelligence, through the use of strategies based on theory, such as Gottman’s Emotional Coaching, or Bandura’s Social Learning. Parents can learn about how to help their child develop a sense of industry at home, through reading about how to apply Erickson’s theory of industry versus inferiority. In summary, our product provides guidance for parents to aid their child in developing socially, cognitively, and academically, if implemented effectively.