The time I broke my laptop

Re: Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting.

Hi there,

I’m back to school for work; I work with the best humans the earth has to offer— teenagers! And it reminded me of an old article I wrote back in 2018, fresh out of school, on how breaking my overpriced and under-utilized laptop forced me to upgrade to a notebook and saved my learning life. Not even a bit of an exaggeration.

Five things to share:

1. In fall 2014, I entered my third-year of undergraduate studies with a dream and a laptop that accompanied me to every class and lecture. I never once questioned why I needed a laptop to take notes: It was a given. Like most students, I carried my laptop to every class and spent half the time frequently checking my email and Twitter feed and the other half frantically typing lecture notes. It was hard to follow a lecture when you miss parts of it throughout because Twitter is just so much more enticing. This distracted mode of learning meant I retained very little of the lecture. One lucky day, the inevitable happened.

2. Currently reading and loving The Future is Analog by David Sax. In chapters exploring work, school, religion, and more, the book asks: Is our future inevitably digital? Can we reject the downsides of digital technology without rejecting change? Can we innovate not for the sake of productivity but for the good of our social and cultural lives? Can we build a future that serves us as humans, first and foremost?

3. A quote I want to share with you:

   There is a great secrete in knowing what to keep out of the mind as well as what to put in.
   — Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting. Susan Dynarski has banned almost all electronic devices during her classes and research seminars. Dynarski's rationale for the ban? The growing evidence that overall college students learn less and earn worse grades when they use computers or tablets during lectures.

5. A challenge for you: Break your laptop! At the very least, don’t argue with the bots.

P.s. Making analog fun!

she’s just like me fr

That’s all for this week!

Thank you for reading, and share with anyone you think may benefit.

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Until next time,

Mehret