Digital Detox 2021 – The Digital Learning Community in a Pandemic

The new year is traditionally a time of renewal and rejuvenation with resolutions abound, complete with goals and intentions. A few years ago I was struck by the digital detox initiatives out of Middlebury College and Thompson Rivers University (TRU) as unique ways to bring together our work with digital technologies and the reality that those tools and their effects are sometimes less than healthy. I’d always wanted to take a stab at running a digital detox initiative and when we launched our Hub Blog back in September I started thinking about it and talking about it. January crept up on me quicker than I’d expected and though I’m not sure about taking on a detox ourselves I think I may have an idea that might be even better. But first a bit about these initiatives.

A Note About Abstinence Only Detoxes

I have the impression that when people think about digital detoxes that abstinence is the first thing that comes to mind. Those of this mindset (I’ll admit that I was one) can be taken aback when an all virtual digital detox through a series of newsletters and blog posts is proposed. “So… you’re gonna tell me about how I should ration my email exposure through messages delivered to my email?” Amy Collier has a great post from Middlebury’s 2020 digital detox describing how abstinence only detoxes are problematic. The ability to walk away from digital tools and spaces is a great privilege – for many this means a cutting off from work, job searches, distant family, social connections and more. Amy highlights expensive programs that one can sign up for to have a digital detox experience, heck you can even get a certificate, but how practical are these? I’m not sure that a digital detox that only a few can afford in either time or money is all that beneficial. 

So… what exactly is this?

The Middlebury and TRU digital detoxes are weekly newsletters which take a critical look at how we use technology in our lives and in our teaching and learning. If you sign up with your email on their sites they will be delivered to your email inbox but you can also visit their sites on your own if you would prefer. Rather than taking an abstinence only approach these initiatives question the digital in our lives to point out toxic elements and attempt to discuss ways to mitigate this toxicity through engagement and education. You can check out the archives from past years on their sites to get an idea about how they do this. 

While I question the usefulness of an abstinence only approach what I do believe in is critical reflection, learning, and community conversation. As January approached I reached out to those who ran the digital detoxes at Middlebury and TRU and got a good look at how much work they were putting into these initiatives and wondered if maybe rather than coming up with my own content on a set schedule I could engage with what Middlebury and TRU were already doing and try to inspire some reflection and conversation here at UM-D about it. 

So, this is my call for those who are interested in a UM-D digital detox. You can sign up for the Middlebury digital detox, the TRU digital detox, or both. I’ll be following a long and hope to do some blog responses to the posts from these two schools and I also hope that maybe we can dedicate one or two of our upcoming Hub Coffee Breaks to some of the topics in the detoxes. You can drop your email here if you would like special notification of UM-D digital detox responses and coffee hours. You can read and comment on the digital detox posts, come to the coffee hours, and if you happen to feel motivated to write your own blog response we can talk about a guest authorship on the Hub Blog. 

I do hope you will consider coming along.