What’s it like to be tech naked?

I don’t know if the term has been used before. I’m pretty sure someone else coined it long ago.

Tech naked

I’m also pretty sure that I just got blocked by 50% of all school filters. Which is a shame. I think we all need to get tech naked every once in a while. What is tech naked?

. . . going for an extended period of time without access to, or choosing not to access, technology such as computers, internet, social media, email, and the Apple App Store.

(Also no Scramble with Friends.)

And it’s a good thing. There has been some interesting research about how the misuse of technology can screw with attention span and deep thinking skills. How the use of social media can be addictive. Let’s be clear. I am a firm believer of using technology as a part of everyday life, of how powerful it can be as part of the educational process.

But . . . we need to be careful about forming technology using habits that may shut off parts of brains that allow us to focus, to think, to keep important things in the forefront. A recent Stanford study spent some time examining the impact of technology on the brain:

. . . we all bet high multitaskers were going to be stars at something.

We were absolutely shocked. We all lost our bets. It turns out multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking. They’re terrible at ignoring irrelevant information; they’re terrible at keeping information in their head nicely and neatly organized; and they’re terrible at switching from one task to another.

All of this to say that I have the chance to go tech naked for a week or so. No laptop. No social media. No email. I will have my phone for emergencies. And to be honest, I’m pretty sure I’ll bug my wife for Google directions.

But I want to read. And write. And figure some stuff out. Tech naked. I’ll let you know how it went in a couple of weeks.

Cross your fingers.