Sunday, April 22, 2012

Blog Post #13

I never expected an activity such as this one to be a part of Edm310. I always thought about going a day or two without technology or TV, but I never actually went through with it. I originally chose April 11, 2012 as the day I would make my first attempt, but I had to attend a required class for Edm310. I then chose the following Sunday, April 15, 2012 to attempt this project and was successful at doing so. Yes, I was able to do this experiment on the first try.

Facebook Snapshot

For the fast I included family and friends in this process by letting them know that I wouldn’t be available on this day, although some forgot and still contacted me. I created a Facebook post as a public service announcement of me not being available, so that if there was anything important to tell me they should do so either before or wait until after the project was over. I reminded my mom everyday up until the day I began my project so she would know why I haven’t called her. When approaching things that I thought would stray me off my plan I would dismiss myself. For example, while hanging out with friends I made sure they didn’t include me in anything powered by electricity; instead of sitting in the areas of the dining hall where the TVs were we sat in the booths that did not include Television.

After the experiment was over I realized how much I really needed the use of these things. I made sure to check the weather ahead of time, because I would usually do it before I left my room. About 8 hours of my day were spent sleeping, and the rest hanging out with friends. If I wasn’t sure of the time I would ask my friends, so that helped me remain on schedule. I had a test the week of the 15th in which I made sure I printed out my slides the Friday before conducting the fast. This was the last thing I did until the day change to the next.

Mobile Device Snapshot

It was difficult for me to watch my friends using there devices and not being able to engage fully in what they were doing at times. Watching television or being able to use my computer was not very hard to live without, but my mobile device was a different story. I had to leave it behind when I left my room because it was quite tempting to just power it on, but my friends made sure I went a full day without it! Once I made it a day without my mobile device I powered it on and messages quickly rolled in. I took a snapshot on my mobile device of two photos, one containing my messages and another of the amount of emails that I now had to check.

Mobile Device Snapshot

This assignment helped me to realize how much I need the use of technology and as well as other devices. Each device that I own is now a necessity to the human life. Although some may not hold a great deal of purpose it is still needed to a certain extent. I only just got a laptop computer and I was fine without it before, but it has been beneficial to me while being a college student. When my future students rush into my class I would hope they are not e-media fasters! It is fine to experiment to see if one can be without such devices, but to not have any source of using such devices or some others that were listed would be like going back to kindergarten all over again. As students’ progress in school the progress in technology as well. Therefore, I will never recommend not using battery powered devices mainly because life is just no fun!

No comments:

Post a Comment