Mikael Murphy-Rendón ’28 is an iPad notetaker. But he never stays in the notes app. He inevitably gets distracted, checking his calendar, email and texts. 

But from Sept. 14-20, he plans to take notes in class with pen and paper, seeking a more mindful interaction with his studies.   

He’ll be taking part in Cornell Unplugged, a new event that asks the Cornell community to decrease technology use, increase face-to-face interaction and consider that every AI chat, doomscroll and text message has a water, energy and carbon footprint. 

“I really hope that students can understand their current relationship with technology and strive to make a more mindful and healthy use of these technological tools,” said Murphy-Rendón, an environmental engineering major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a member of the Sustainable Computing Working Group, which is organizing the event. 

Cornell Unplugged encourages participants to put down their devices during meals, attend in-person events and explore their community and nature. Faculty are encouraged to consider tech-free and tech-light class exercises. 

“The research literature has begun to suggest that undifferentiated screen use in classrooms – sort of a free-for-all screen policy, one that’s not principled and intentional – reduces student performance by half a grade on average,” said Steven Jackson, Sustainable Computing Working Group chair and vice provost for academic innovation. “That’s true whether or not you are the student with the screen open.” 

Community members will be able to sign the Unplugged Pledge, a short anonymous form to set a goal for hours unplugged. The Cornell Unplugged website also offers tips for unplugging and a list of activities to attend as alternatives to using technology, including events at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and daily Golden Hour gatherings at sunset on Libe Slope.  

Meredith Rutherford, sustainability manager in Facilities and Campus Services and Sustainable Computing Working Group member, said the event hopes to call attention to the costs of passive technology use. 

“Technology is facilitating wonderful things,” she said, “but there is possibly some overuse that is not as constructive. So if you put away the phone during meal time, you probably have to talk to somebody. It’s a way to unplug and reconnect with folks. It is a sustainability exercise, but it really is a reconnection exercise.” 

The event is not anti-technology, said Jackson, who is also professor in the Department of Information Science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, and in the Department of Science and Technology Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. 

“I see this as pro smart and thoughtful tech,” he said. “We are encouraging people to reflect on that and giving people space and occasions to do that together.”