TIME.com: In this brave new world of twenty-first century higher education, it is now axiomatic that professors must employ every possible digital device in order to engage their students. This has led to the common practice of allowing students to use their laptops in the classroom. And use them they do. All you have to do is stand at the back of a crowded campus lecture hall to see the screens crowded with multiple windows open to everything from news sites to Facebook to YouTube. If you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of typed notes underneath the social media bling. When I finally got tired of playing Internet policeman last year, I decided to ban laptops in my Modern Jewish History class.
10 comments:
This article is preaching truth from the highest pulpit; I couldn't agree more with its arguments. Laptops in class are a distraction, not only to the user but to everyone sitting around that student who can see the moving, flashing screen. It is hard enough to follow many class lectures and keep up with what the professor is saying while summarizing the main ideas on paper, without the distraction of everything the world wide web has to offer by way of entertainment. It could very well be that students who put down their laptops that they use as boredom relief will find that they are actually interested in the topic at hand, and will therefore succeed in the class all the more due to the absence of their personal technology. But either way, personal experience agrees that laptops in class are nothing but a distraction, and banning them in the learning environment will be greatly beneficial to college students.
I'm torn about this article. While I, personally, agree with the author about the use of laptops in a classroom, I can also see the other side of the argument. I have never and will never use a laptop to take notes in a class. I have used my laptop to follow along when learning computer programs, to check facts, or to look at an online example of something. However, when it comes to a lecture class I always use a pen and paper. I also agree that seeing the screens of other people's laptops can be extremely distracting. I'm going to play devil's advocate, though. As a good student, it shouldn't matter what other people are doing around you. You should be able to ignore the Facebook page or YouTube video that the person in front of you has open, and be able to focus on the professor and your own notes. We are in a technological age, and people will have to adapt to the effects of that technology. That being said, though, I do agree that this professor has every right to ban laptops in his class. Good for him for standing by his point. Critical thinking is something may be falling by the wayside with Google available at the tips of society's fingers.
As a college student, who is moderately tech-savvy, I have mixed feelings about banning laptops from the Lecture Hall. Technology use in the classroom can definitely be a disadvantage to students obviously because of how much distraction it can cause. It can also lead to people transcribing the class instead of actually listening to the teacher. However, as our world constantly progresses, there are new ways to study and consume information. Some students can listen and learn more in class, while others may learn more using technology such as recording devices outside of class. In addition, taking technology away will not stop students from finding other ways to ease their boredom. If Facebook is no longer an option, then elementary school doodling may or may not be revived, once more!
This article is tackling the symptom, not the disease. A student gets bored in class, whose fault is that? Two answers: the student and the teacher. Where does the technology get blamed for that one? Nowhere. If the student is physically unable to pay attention, they should seek the help they need to do so. If a professor is boring to the point where half of their class is asleep, they should probably think of more interesting ways to present the material. The technology isn't the problem.
On that same note, though, a certain CS professor at CMU is notably strict about his laptop policy. You're welcome to use them, but if he catches you using a laptop for anything other than taking notes for even a fraction of the second, you fail the course. But it's a computer science course, you need the laptop, some exclaim. But you really don't: you'll learn the material in class and practice it at home, thus the existence of homework. He emphasizes the severity of failing to pay attention, then lets students decide for themselves whether or not they have the self control to keep off of Facebook. The result is that most desks in the room have nothing but a notebook and a pencil on them. Efficiency.
I think this author brings up some good and some weak points about using laptops in class. The first being the typical point that many students spend the time on facebook and other websites that distract them. Although this is true I believe that students that are on facebook and are not paying attention because of their laptops would not pay attention even if they did not have them. I also think the author described themselves as an internet police man, should stop police if people are really taking notes on their laptops. I doubt that the professor goes around and checks to see if people are taking notes normally instead of drawing or writing other things so why should he police laptops? The author also calls technology an invaluable teaching aid. So banning it from the class room seems counter productive to me. If I have may laptop open in class I am not just taking notes on it I am also looking information up, sometimes it is a definition of a word the professor used that I didn't know, other times it is opening webpages that I will want to do further research in. I think that the ability of a laptop to do this in lectures allows students to activity remain with the professor during the lecture and leave with are greater volume of understanding instead of waiting a day or two. The final point that I found weak was the professor saying that students write down too much information in the lecture. I find this to be odd for a professor to write. I think that he would only speak what he finds important and so having students write that down seems like the right thing to do.
Usually I'm in the "college students are adults so don't babysit them" camp RE: laptops in class, but the author makes some good points that I hadn't thought of. The shift from having big picture discussions to what amounts to a session of dictation is an unfortunate one. There is also something about having a physical barrier between the student and the professor that separates and disengages the student, changing them from being an active participant to an observer.
I think that the danger in any debate about teaching styles is to be prescriptive, saying that one thing always works and should always be done or not. What works in a Russian lit. class of 12 wouldn't necessarily work in an intro to mechanical engineering class of 300. Ultimately, debates about teaching/learning styles and how technology fits therein should be discussions, not shouting matches.
I agree with what this professor says here. As I read a relevant article a week ago about new notetaking app, Evernote, I noticed several problems that a students can record the lecture without any consent from the teacher. Reading this article, I could clearly see professor's arising concerns. Also, I agree how merely typing down every word that the professor says because typing is faster than writing with hand will not put any information in student's head. When students were used to write down on note, they had to first listen to what professor said and write down the most important point in it. Although using computer during lectures definitely helps me keep awake, I admit that I also use it to multi-task. It helps me awake, but at the same time, it takes away my attention to the lecture. So, I think if a professor does not like to see this happening, I think it is up to him or her to change the policy of the class no matter how the students will react.
I have a very simple opinion on this incessantly controversial opinion. Leave it up to the students. If they want to sabotage their own education, let them. Hopefully by college students will have learning in what environments laptops are a actually useful, and in what situations they are not. I agree that professors have the right to ban laptops and other technology if they so choose, but this sort of blanket ban can also adversely effect students in the class who would learn better by using technology.
Although I completely agree with the author, I would venture to question as to why he even cares. Each individual student is responsible for the success or failure of their college education, not their teacher.
I think that electronic devices make it way too easy to record the contents of a lecture. If I've finished taking notes before the teacher is even done talking, then I will get bored, and I will probably end up on Facebook. That being said, I don't think it's the teacher's responsibility to shepherd my good classroom habits, although I applaud his efforts!
I also think that this do sort of depend on what sort of class this is. If the class is a more discussion based class, then students being distracted by their laptops can have a negative impact on the class as a whole, if students aren't paying enough attention to contribute. Meanwhile, in a lecture-based class, then it is really on the student's own head to make sure that they pay attention and get useful notes. I do also find it problematic that people can record the professor without their permission, as many professors will specifically ban recordings unless the student has a learning issue.
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