Coping with COVID-19 - the Mobile way - book overview

 This is a timely addition to a plethora of studies/articles/books on how various educational sectors, coped with COVID-19 in the last 2 years. The book reports on case studies from China, which is still keeping the virus at bay with a 'zero COVID' approach. 

The book is edited by Dr. Xiaoge Xu and published in 2022 by Springer. 

After an introduction by the editor, there are five sections. The chapter introduces the frameworks underpinning the the book's approaches and provides short overviews of each chapter.

The first section - coping with COVID-19: the WeChat way has three chapters.

- 'You wait for me for a moment': mobile usage of the elderly female adults in China to cope with COVID-19 by Zhen Troy Chen and Xin Pei. Studies an under-researched demographic for mobile phone use and especially relevant in the current situation, whereby social connection is challenged but of utmost importance in helping individuals maintain mental well-being. 

- COVID-10 fake news and older adults: predicating news credibility evaluation, by Xiaoxiao Zhang. Follows on from the previous chapter and studies how older adults, evaluate the multiple sources of information they receive through mobile access to information. Found digital skills, literacy and social media use were the major influences on how individuals perceived the validity and credibility of online content.

- Coping with COVID-19: The WeChat way by Stephen Adriano-Moore and Yimeng Cai. An interesting study of how medical staff coped, whilst assigned to mobile / temporary treatment centres, used WeChat to develop and maintain social cohesion through challenging work.

The second section focuses on 'reporting on COVID-19, the mobile way.

- Predicting news engagement in Douyin: The case of COVID-10 coverag, by Qumo Ren. Douyin is China's version of TikTok - a mobile platform for sharing short videos. Found that high-visual-modality and solution-embedded news, increased social engagement (number of likes and comments).

- Reporting COVID-19 via crowdsourcing: The US vs China with Shixin Ivy Zhang, Jing Meng and Ranna Huang. Highlights the importance of mobile devices in crowdsourcing of 'just-in-time' news. Chinese 'real-name' authentication discouraged and reduced the chance of users producing 'fake news'.

Then a section on Coping with COVID-19: Information disorder and personal privacy.

- Typology and governance of information disorder related to COVID-19 in China by Yusi Liu and Lu Zhu. Defines, discusses and evaluates the various ways information can be viewed through various lenses.

- Public health vs Personal privacy during COVID-10 in China with Zhijing Zhang. Details the many initiatives, used by the Chinese government, to prevent and control the virus. Discusses the ethical concerns around citizen privacy and issues around data protection and security.

Followed by a section on Coping with COVID-19: The survival efforts.

- Digital transformation or new digital divde 2.0? Yiwu lady bosses embracing MSC technology to survive the pandemic by Chenxiang Elaine Ji. A case study on mobile social commerce and its influence on micro-entrepreneurs/micro-enterprises.

- Mobile marketing and innovation: Saviours for toursism during the pandemic bu Yi Wang, Yangyang Jiang and Cenhua lyu. A comparative study, pre and post -COVID 19 on mobile marketing strategies and processes.

- From epicentre to hero city: How Wuhan survived the pandemic written by Zizhen Wand and Stephen Andriano-Moore. Reports on how the city of Wuhan, turned the negative image around through the publicising of specific people whose bravery assured the safety of others.

The last section is of relevance covering 'beyond COVID-19: collaborative mobile learning and mobile workplaces.

- Collaborative learning during the pandemic: The role of mobile devices by Nancy Xiuzhi Liu and Zhen Troy Chen. Evaluated how learners acquired the skills of translation through collaborative learning.

- Mobile workplaces for the construction industry in the post-COVID-19 era with Georgios Kapogiannis, Tianlung Yang, Ahmed Mohammed Alkhard and Azzam Rasian. Reports through two case studies, the work to create mobile working environments when the workforce is not able to physically congregate. The use of mobile devices and the creation of a mobile work environment are key. 

Overall, the chapters report on many studies, undertaken to better understand the challenges and initiatives undertaken over the last few years, as society, education and work, grapple with swift change and the need to continually cope with moving from f2f interactions, towards undertaking most communication via digital means. The studies provide a window into how one country, still enmeshed in keeping the virus at bay, has deployed mobile technologies and the implications wrought on individuals and society at large.