CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Are Computers Ruining Education?

gizmodo.com: The original description for this image says "My med school this morning. Future doctors of america learning ADHD one imgur link at a time."

4 comments:

Camille Rohrlich said...

Personally, I do not particularly like to use a laptop in class. I think better when doing things by hand, and I know for a fact that taking notes by hand allows you to retain information much more efficiently than typing notes. And like this photo points out, a computer simply is too distracting; the temptation to see what's going on with the Interwebs can be too great to fight back. Computers are a very useful tool in education, except when it comes to taking useful, efficient notes. I definitely believe they should not be allowed in classes.

E Young Choi said...

Well, the picture of the article is very self-explanatory. I think this issue of using labtop during class is controversial because each person has different study method. However, to me, labtop is an obstacle. Although for me, labtop keeps me awake during class and helps me take a note in word, I still get very distracted and eventually end up doing multi-tasking in which I take notes at a same time I look for other stuffs or go into Facebook. Other than that, I like the traditional way of taking notes by hands because it really helps me to rethink what I am writing, thus easy to memorize. Computers might not RUIN the education, but it stills takes away student's attention, thus less participating. Again, computers can possibly keep students awake and can be great tools for education; nonetheless, I "still go with pencil and paper."

Unknown said...

I think that ninety percent of college classes (and lower education for that matter) should not have laptops or tablets allowed in the lecture hall or recitation. They are unnecessary, distracting, and unhelpful in many note-taking situations. But, I definitely see the benefit of having them in med school. Though, granted, these students appeared to be wasting the technology they had on hand, you can't pretend that just taking notes on physiology will help someone know it. Unlike the old fashioned days, there aren't a plethora of cadavers that have, say, polio in America. But, that doesn't mean that med students don't need to learn what effect that has on the body. Therefore, internet/computer based learning is essential. So, they have a time and place, and it's only in highly technical classes. Unless I'm in AutoCAD class, I never bring out my laptop in class. It's a tool that I use to complete homework on my own time.

Jess Bergson said...

I agree with what Camille, Elaine, and Kelly are saying above. I have found that is is very distracting not only when I have my laptop out in class, but also when others around me have their laptops out. In my global histories class, the professor is very adamant on his students refraining from using phones, laptops, tabloids, or any other electronic device while in class. At first, I completely didn't understand this rule, since most kids in the class would just fall asleep during lectures anyway. What is the real difference between someone falling asleep and missing lecture and being on Facebook and missing lecture? After reading this article and observing it a little bit more, I have figured out the difference. First off, when someone is sleeping in class, it doesn't really impact others around them. Sure, people may notice that the person is sleeping in class, but that's about it. However, if someone is on Facebook, watching a Youtube video, etc., this is a lot more distracting to all of the students in the room. It is also almost "contagious." When one student sees another student on Facebook, they suddenly will feel the urge to also surf the internet. I completely understand why laptops are banned in college lectures, and I in fact, I am happy they are banned.