I think like a lot of other students the dominating idea that came from the lecture was looking at the attitudes we might have toward the subject and it’s delivery.

What I spent most of the lecture doing however was trying to focus in listening to Adrian without taking any notes. Respecting the request to turn off computers, I decided to embrace the change and see if I couldn’t take advantage of the situation and instead of taking down notes to archive my thoughts I would try and mentalise them. It really didn’t work (unfortunately).

This could be one of two things. One, I have become entirely reliant on technology to a point where I have trouble retaining much more information than a sentence’s worth without writing it down or two, notes are actually pretty handy.

The latter seems more reasonable, but in my process of eliminating as much clutter as possible in my life (I’ve been inspired by some minimalistic principles, reducing unnecessary objects in my possession, an entirely different inquiry I might discuss later) I have been left without paper and pen. Like I mentioned in a previous post, handwriting for me is slow, difficult, and usually illegible anyway (rendering the notes useless). Not to mention the wondrous capabilities of cloud storage via Evernote (the app I use to take notes) that allows me to access my stored knowledge from any device (seriously, it’s a truly superb application and totally worth your time checking out).

So what did I take away from that unlecture? Focusing is hard, remembering lots is even harder.

In response to Adrian’s point about multi-tasking, I can understand the perspective he’s coming from as a teacher. I personally do not try to multi-task when I can help it (I acknowledge it’s not an entirely feasible task) but from the logistical perspective it does enhance the learning of the majority of students in the lecture (who would otherwise be simultaneously harboring multiple social platforms).

So no, I don’t agree with that choice, but I understand the reasoning. My only suggestion would be to allow us the luxury of digital note taking, and if there are those who choose to misuse that then they should be made aware that it is they who are whittling away both their time spent at University and the money being put toward the degree. It’s simply not economical.