Students Attempt To Give Up Technology for a Week and Mostly Fail

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 04/24/08
A professor at the University of Central Florida challenged her students to unplug and live a technology-free life for five days, and most discovered they were incapable of doing so. "It's something I'm doing to get us in touch with where our humanity is," said faculty member Mary Ann Murdoch in coverage in the Orlando-Sentinel. "Are they really in charge of these devices, or are all these devices in charge of them?"

Only two of 26 students in Murdoch's English composition class were able to relinquish cell phones, iPods, portable CD players, text messaging, e-mail, computers, TVs, DVDs, and video games. The rest conceded that they were dependent on technology.

Some, including Dave DeGiovanni, didn't bother trying. "It's just pointless," he declared in the Sentinel article.

Most students gave in to boredom. Early in the assignment, "some took naps or went to bed early," according to the article. "Anything, they said, to fill the void." A few caught up on homework and cleaned their dorm rooms. But it didn't take long for most to succumb to the allure of a cellphone or text message.

"You don't realize how much you're getting sucked into it until you step out of it, and that was the whole purpose of this thing," Murdoch is quoted as saying. "Maybe in the future, when they get older, maybe they'll think about this and say, 'Hey, maybe I am too available, I need to unplug.'"

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • glowing lines connecting colorful nodes on a deep blue and black gradient background

    Juniper Launches AI-Native Networking and Security Management Platform

    Juniper Networks has introduced a new solution that integrates security and networking management under a unified cloud and artificial intelligence engine.

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • Global AI vibrancy ranking

    United States Leads in Stanford HAI Global AI Ranking

    A new ranking tool from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) AI Index puts the United States in the No. 1 spot for global AI leadership.

  • metallic padlock with a glowing keyhole, set on a dark gradient background with a faint digital grid and blue-green highlights

    Microsoft Announces Security Updates as Part of Secure Future Initiative

    Microsoft has announced a handful of new security tools and updates, which the company said adhere to its Secure Future Initiative, a set of three core tenets emphasizing "secure by design, secure by default and secure operations."