Informatics 161: Social Analysis of Computerization
Prof. Melissa Mazmanian
Fall 2012
Technology Disconnect Assignment1
Description:
One of the major objectives of this course is to have you examine your relationship to technology. To help us
accomplish this objective, everyone in the course will spend 24 hours giving up access to all communication
and entertainment technologies (defined as electronically-mediated). This means, no cell phone calls, no
texting, no email, no Twitter, no Facebook or Myspace, no landline calls, no TV, no radio, no MP3 players, no
gaming consuls, no Internet, no computer use, or anything else that lies within the spirit of this exercise.
This means that you need to plan ahead! You might need to get an assignment completed before the day it is
due. You might need to let you friends, family, coworkers, and professors know about your unavailability. You
will probably need to think about how you will spend your time because temptation will likely be strong. Faceto-face communication is fine. Writing things using pen and paper is fine. Reading books is fine.
We will do this activity now through the middle of October. You may choose any 24 hours during the next
three weeks, but I highly encourage you to choose a weekday and I encourage you to start sooner rather than
later (if you are unable to go a full 24 hours you will have to try again the next day). I will be participating with
you and bring my reflections about my own experience to class as well. This exercise should require some
level of sacrifice, but I feel that is important to accomplish our objective.
The assignment is divided into two separate deliverables (field notes and a mini paper). Each is due on
Tuesday, October 23.
Overview of field notes:
In order to get an accurate view of your experience you will be jotting quick reflections on paper every three
hours (that you are awake) during the assignment. Reflection worksheets are available today in class and can
be downloaded from the website at .
https://eee.uci.edu/11f/37090/assignments/detox_field_notes_forms.pdf
Every three hours pull out the sheet and you will be asked to jot down answers to the following questions:
 What time is it?
 Where are you?
 What are you doing?
 Who are you with? (don’t use proper names – just describe the people in terms of their relationship
to you – e.g. “study group”, “guys from my frat,” “my boyfriend” etc.)
 Have you been tempted to use technology in the past 3 hours? If so, what devices/programs and
why
 Any other details of interest
Overview of mini-paper:
The paper should be approximately 4-5 pages or 1000-1200 words. The paper will have two sections (written
before and after the 24 hours of disconnect). Please weave these sections together with an introduction and
summary.
The first section of the paper will be written PRIOR to your 24 hours of disengagement. In the first section of
the paper I want you to answer the following questions:
1
I am indebted to Keri Stephens, Assistant Professor of Communication at UT Austin for the basis of this assignment.
Informatics 161: Social Analysis of Computerization
Prof. Melissa Mazmanian
Fall 2012
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What are you doing to prepare for disconnecting?
What do you think will be the most challenging aspect of disconnecting? The easiest?
What technology will be the most difficult to give up and why? What will be the easiest and why?
Are you excited about this assignment? Why or why not?
After your period of disconnect please answer the following questions. Your answers to these questions and
overall reflections on the experience will comprise the second half of the paper.
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What technologies ended up being the most difficult and easiest to give up (how was this different
from your expectations)? Why?
What ended up being the most challenging aspect of disconnect? What ended up being the easiest
(how was this different from your expectations)?
What surprised you most about the experience?
Was your disconnection difficult for others in your life? Who? Why? In what ways?
Did you enjoy this assignment? Do you think you might ever try something like this again? Why or
why not?
Be certain that your paper honestly addresses what you really missed by being off-line for a day, the reactions
of others, what if anything you gained by being off-line, and any insights or frustrations that participating in
the exercise invoked. Make sure to include concrete details about what you did with your time and whether
you will think differently about your technology use in the future. Do not use first names in the paper (say “my
roommate” rather than “Bob”).
The mini-paper is due before class on Tuesday, October 23. Please submit via EEE.
Handwritten field notes are due in class on October 23.
Grading – 20% of your final grade in the course.
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The mini-paper is worth a total of 15 points.
Field notes are work a total of 5 points.
Breakdown of grading for tech disengagement assignment
Area
Mini-Paper
Well written
Addressing
questions
Quality of
reflections about
the experience
Field notes
Legibility
Thoroughness and
concrete details
Description
Is the paper easy to read with proper grammar, spelling and sentence structure.
Does the paper address each of the questions on this sheet? I expect evidence that you
thought about the questions both before and after the time of disconnect. Your
answers can be weaved into the document and should not be numbered or in bullet
form.
It is important to be self-reflective and honest in your assessment of the experience.
Does the paper provide evidence that you have thoroughly thought through the
experience and your relationship with technology?
Can we read your handwriting?
Concrete details are the key to good field notes. Do the field notes show an effort to
answer questions at regular 2-3 hour periods? Is it apparent that the student took the
assignment seriously?
20pts
15pts
3
7
5
5pts
1
4