Activity 6.5

I find Clay Shirky’s article, Why a leading professor of new media just banned technology use in class, interesting and relatable. In more recent years, I’ve found myself and others to be more inattentive and easily distracted. I connect this disengagement to Shirky’s statements, “Multi-tasking is cognitively exhausting” and “People often start multi-tasking because they believe it will help them get more done. Those gains never materialize; instead, efficiency is degraded.” Yes, technology does have its place, but it’s often pulling us in different directions and replacing deep meaning making opportunities with shallow ones. Thus, our quality of attention is diminished, our understanding disconnected and we are left in a cloud of second hand smoke, that permeates and fogs our minds. Paying attention is a constant effort, and technology use during instruction diverts the learners’ attention. Therefore, I agree with Shirky’s decision to ban technology in class, unless it’s required.