"PSA for CPA: Continuous Partial Attention in work/school pre and post 2009" by Jorrell

According to Watkins, what constitutes the diffusion of innovations? How might his argument change if this chapter was written today?

            S. Craig Watkins in his chapter, "May I Have Your Attention" centers the digital diffusion happening inside academic and work environments. To extrapolate his argument about the consequences of digital diffusion, particularly in the lives of youth, Watkins observed and interviewed educators and students throughout all levels of education about their use or rejection of digital media/technology in the classroom/work setting. Watkins engages with sociologist Everett M. Rogers' theory of "diffusion of innovations," which in short explains that "early adopters" engage with innovations before those innovations gain traction and "near-universal embrace across a population” (173). Watkins offers factors such as declining prices of technology, and family data plans that have led to a "near-universal embrace" of mobile phones/devices (Ibid). The 2002 poll by the Pew Internet & American Life Project that Watkins lifts further frames this diffusion. The 2002 data reported that, 38 percent said it would be hard to give up their mobile phone while 63 percent said it would be harder for them to give up than landline phones. Five year later the percentage for mobile phones shot up to 57 percent and the landline dropped to 40 percent (Ibid). The percentage increase for mobile phone's usage in everyday life supports the illustration of contemporary life intertwine with technology constantly, on-the-go, or as Watkins puts it, "anytime, anywhere." Furthermore, Watkins usage of the term, continuous partial attention (CPA) is helpful in understanding's his argument how of youth's (and subsequent generations') attention is constantly influx because of the hyperactive and hyper fast technological demands of today's society.

            S. Craig Watkins, as a professor theirself reflected on this self-posed question after a laptop use discussion in class, "Is it even reasonable to expect students to commit their full attention in a classroom setting?" (185). At the time when this book was published (2009) technology was on the onset of incredible advancement; smart TVs, SMART boards, touch display cell phones (with high resolution cameras), media streaming services such as Netflix, Fit Bits, and the like were developing fast. However, the world, particularly the United States, had not experience monumental society changing events that rapid-technology and CPA modes (of thinking/living) were necessary in processing. The first four years of the Obama administration we witnessed (digitally): the Occupy Movement, the murder of Trayvon Martin, and the call to action for Black Lives Matter; we also saw new digital media such as Instagram and Twitter used to document the hyper fast changing world.

            If Watkins was to rewrite this text today, with the same focus on educational and work environments, I believe their arguments would shift completely from seeing CPA as a possible detriment to work/academic productively and more as a necessary mode for focus/balance in technology rich stimuli environments. The consequences of technology absent in work/academic settings are evident with this current Covid-19 pandemic. Schools without online/digital resources cannot continue educating their students. This will surely cause delays in student advancement and cause greater disparities between schools that did invested in online teaching and those that did not (most likely because they were underfunded and overworked to begin with). Today, Watkins would mostly likely engage with educators who are millennials or older who have social media and possibly grew up with it. These educators are more likely to understand how mobile technology is a part of a youth's communication, identity and social sphere. And to ponder further, mobile technology, particularly a cell phone, is seemingly becoming (if not already) a basic human right.

-Jorrell