Disconnect36: A Social Experiment to Teach Students to Shut Down, Turn off, and Understand Connectivity

Abstract

American teens are using online social networks more than ever before. According to a 2010 Pew Internet Project study, close to 75% of teens use social media sites and wireless connections (cell phones, game consoles, and portable gaming devices) to access the Internet (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). These constant connections and ties to the Internet are fascinating to some scholars who see a tremendous value to the communities found and made online. Yet, this ability to be in constant connection is troubling to other scholars who believe that this constant ability to contact and connect is changing society for worst, not the better [Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster; Bugeja, 2005]. This chapter outlines a social media class experiment undertaken by the lead author to provide students with an opportunity to understand their reliance on the new media or media in general and add to the scholastic literature on teaching and technology in the classroom. In the Spring 2010 classes, the majority of students agreed to disconnect from all communication technology and social media for 36hours. The assignment was worth 65 points. As they started to withdraw from the media, the class assignment provided students with insights into their constant connectivity and how they manage information through various mediated channels. After the assignments students were required to complete an 800-word blog or paper. To receive full credit for the assignment, students needed to complete the written component. All the students who participated completed the written requirement. The majority of the students completed their assignments on their blogs but about half of the students both turned in a written paper and posted the assignment on their blogs. The students that provided written permissions were selected for inclusion in this chapter. We were careful to make sure that the students in this chapter were representative of the entire population, including male and female, students who were bothered by the disconnect and those who were intrigued by the possibility of being disconnected, traditional and non-traditional students, and students who worked, had no outside employment, and students with other non-academic obligations. Our insight into students' issues of connectivity was drawn from these stories. This chapter further offers ideas on how to integrate such an experiment in other settings and provides pedagogical rationales for this type of assignment. The names of the students in this experiment were changed to safeguard student anonymity and personal privacy.

Citation

Flippin-Wynn, M. and Tindall, N.T.J. (2011), "Disconnect36: A Social Experiment to Teach Students to Shut Down, Turn off, and Understand Connectivity", Wankel, C. (Ed.) Teaching Arts and Science with the New Social Media (Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education, Vol. 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 265-281. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-9968(2011)0000003016