Should Colleges Ban Classroom Laptop Use? 804
theodp writes "If you were a college prof, think you could successfully compete for the attention of a lecture hall of Mac-packing students? CS student Carolyn blogs that a debate has sprung up on her campus about whether it is acceptable to use a laptop in class. And her school is hardly alone when it comes to struggling with appropriate in-classroom laptop use (vendor/corporate trainers would no doubt commiserate). The problem, she says, is that the OCD Facebookers aren't just devaluing their own education — there's a certain distraction factor to worry about. 'Students,' she suggests, 'should also communicate with each other more and tell their classmates when their computer use bothers them. I'll admit it, when I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction.'"
College is a choice... (Score:4, Insightful)
Besides, they'd just pull out their iPhones then.
Re:College is a choice... (Score:4, Insightful)
That was my initial reaction until I read the part about it being a distraction to other students (eg, a screensaver, someone playing a game, etc).
I don't think banning laptops is the way to approach that, there's a lot of value for students who use their laptops well. And I agree with you, college is a good opportunity for teenager-cum-adults to have the freedom to make their own decisions in an environment which helps them to measure themselves (eg, they can see their grades slipping). So for the student who wants to waste class time by doing something else, that's their decision, so long as they're not taking down others with them.
If anything needs to be done, it should take the form of TA's who approach distracting kids and ask them to at least sit in the back of the room when not fully engaged in classwork (or ask them to do things like switch to an unobtrusive screensaver if they're not actively using the laptop, etc). Students who have difficulty with being distracted can make it a point to try to sit in the front of the room so there's less opportunity for distraction in front of them.
It's possible some students don't realize they're being a distraction, so the mere act of the professor mentioning at the start of the class some basic laptop use etiquette might by itself go a long way:
Re:College is a choice... (Score:4, Informative)
Read an article about teaching in Iraq - how different it is from teaching in USA.
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/12/20/owens [insidehighered.com]
Re:College is a choice... (Score:5, Interesting)
I liked how a professor handled this last semester. If you have a laptop, you are required to sit in the front 2 rows of the class. This gets you in a designated area so people who dont want to be around you dont have to, and it means that everything you do...everyone behind you can see, in an attempt to at least keep people from looking at porn.
I hate paper, I write poorly, I like to type my notes on a laptop so I can read them, edit them and back them up. I really, really dont want to see the privilege taken away from me but I understand why some people are annoyed at others. /keeps my wifi off during class so I can focus
Re:College is a choice... (Score:4, Insightful)
On subject, however - I have no problem with laptops in the class. The sounds of clicking and typing really aren't that distracting, and it can be very helpful to a lot of people. And honestly? Sometimes I DO need to grab my laptop and ignore the lecture for five minutes while I fix something at work (I own a small business, I'm often the only one that can do something without using an expensive on-call consultant). And that should be fine - as long as I am being respectful and not disrupting the education of the other people in the class - the education they (or someone) is paying good money for.
Re:College is a choice... (Score:4, Funny)
Once upon a morning dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my classroom door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my classroom door -
Only this, and nothing more."
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost 4.0 -
For the rare and radiant GPA whom the angels name The Four -
Nameless here for evermore.
Re:College is a choice... (Score:5, Interesting)
I've also been stuck with soft-speaking lecturers whose voice has been partly obscured by a forest of clicks around me.
Anyone claiming 'tough, get used to it' is a mannerless fool like the kind who shouts on cellphones next to you. Students once got along perfectly well quietly taking notes on paper long before the present self-indulgent generation of laptop users. If people don't care about the effect of what they do on their neighbors, it shows a flaw in them, not the protester. I object to the selfish attitude of 'I'm the consumer paying for this, I can do what I want (without regard for others around me)'. And it's significant disrespect for the professor when people fail to pay reasonable attention to him.
I walk away from anyone who's rude enough to stop abruptly and take a phone call in the middle of my sentence, because they're being selfish and ill-mannered. Civility belongs in the classroom, too.
Depends on the case. (Score:4, Insightful)
It all depends on what is done in the classroom if a laptop (or other device) can be used or not.
During some laborations the use of a laptop can be good since it allows the students to have a location where to make notes and share them, but in other cases it may be a distraction instead. Don't forget the information overload factor - education is often about how to come to a conclusion yourself, not to draw on other people's conclusions.
No they shouldn't (Score:3)
I type all my university notes. I'm able to work faster than if I was writing, can research if I didn't understand something, can format it into an understandable piece.
Yes you get distracted. But you know what I do when I have paper and I'm bored ? I doodle or daydream. You're still going to do something else to pass the time. If you can't stay attentive, stop bringing it yourself. There's no need to remove it for everyone else.
Re:No they shouldn't (Score:5, Insightful)
As a professor I can tell you that I don't care if you doodle or daydream. I don't honestly even care if you come to class. But if you do choose to come to my class I want you to at least conceal your inattentiveness, in the same way I would expect you not to take a phone call during a theatrical performance or even a movie I've paid to attend.
The problem with Internet-connected laptop users is that some are very bad at this. In the same way that it's possible to use a mobile phone in a non-distracting way, it's possible to use a laptop appropriately. But many don't. And it's distracting to see someone engrossed in a screen or vigorously typing away in a manner that's obviously disconnected from the course itself. Worse is obvious IMing between students in the same class, which is distracting and intimidating to students who ask questions or actually participate in the discussion.
I work hard to prepare my courses and get consistently high student reviews. But a lot of the energy in the class comes from the students, and distractions like this work like a control rod in an atomic pile. Believe me, everyone gets a worse experience.
It's particularly hard because I teach Master's students at a decent university. These are adults, mind you, people who are supposed to know these things. They're people who probably wouldn't take a phone call in a theatre, but for some reason they have no sense of etiquette when a laptop is involved. Worse, it's hard to scold adults and nobody else in the class wants to do it.
These aren't bad people. I understand the temptation of having a laptop in front of you, you just want to check that email. But it really does hurt the class experience. I don't want to ban laptops, and honestly I don't want to be a dick. But I wish to god I could disable Wifi at the AP. Unfortunately University IT controls it and they wouldn't be thrilled.
Yes, you are right (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, let's ban a useful tool because some people are too meek to ask others to stop doing distracting things with their laptops. [rolls eyes] When did people become so afraid? Is it really that hard to respectfully ask someone to change their behavior so as not to disturb others? Are we to ban a useful technology in the classroom because of a handful of bozos?
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Yes, you are right (Score:5, Informative)
As a professor who deals with this daily, I can tell you my opinion. I teach honors freshman chemistry with 60-80 students in my class. In the last 4 years I haven't had a single student who uses a laptop in class get an 'A' grade in my class. Most of them have ended up underperforming on tests, and then blaming my teaching for their failure to work up to their potential. This is anecdotal, but by the time I get to a few hundred students, it starts to look statistical. In an interesting real statistical development, we did a study in our large GE physical science class about the use of technology. We teach 8 section of the class each semester with identical homework and tests in all sections. We compared performance on tests between sections with teachers that pre-published powerpoint slides and teachers that didn't. Students statistically significantly worse in the sections where they had access to the powerpoint slides. When I poll my students they all tell me how much of an advantage it would be to have them, but it turns out that what they think will help them is not what will help them. We have passed our research on to the business school which requires students to have laptops, and faculty to pre-publish slides (because that is how the business world works) but they aren't interested in knowing.
Re: (Score:3)
Hey if students can't deal with respectfully dealing with someone that they have a conflict with then they are headed for huge trouble down the road as an adult. This is the perfect place and time to learn how to build these social skills. They want to be adults then treat them like adults and they should act like adults. They should directly and peacefully deal with their problems and not expect someone else to deal with their problems. People need to develop some personal responsibility rather than develo
Re: (Score:3)
I guess you have never dealt with the jerk that comes along every so often. I used to work in an open office environment with 50 people in one room. Almost everyone used headphones to listen to music. There was one person who insisted on blaring his music over his desktop speakers. I asked a number of people around me if it bothered them and the reaction I got was " Yeah but that's him. I put on my headphones". I wear glasses and headphones hurt after a while. I asked him to use headphones and he referred
Re: (Score:3)
Ringing cell phones became a distraction in my class, to the point where I instituted a new rule - if a students phone rang, I got to answer it for them. To be fair, I allowed that if my phone rang one of them could answer it...
Hello? No, John isn't available right now he's in class. No, this is his instructor. Care to give him a message?
One of those to show that yes, I really will answer the phone for a student is all it took to have phones put on vibrate or turned off before class.
Re: (Score:3)
My class rules are simple. Phones off unless you let me know you are expecting an important call. In that case, let me know, set the phone on vibrate and you sit in the seat adjacent to the door so you can slip out the door. During quizzes and exams, phones must be turned off and stored in a bag underneath the seat. If expecting a call, phone is up at my podium during hat time.
The simple fact is that phones are disruptive in class. The rules are set forth at the beginning of the semester in the syllabus
Re:Yes, you are right (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with you and your type is that you "think" every call is important. You are in every class, you are at every movie theater, you are in every restaurant. Turn your damned phone off for 60 minutes.
If you have a sick family member, put it on vibrate. If you insist on letting your phone ring, even when told not to, and given the viable alternative of putting it on vibrate, then you are a child...a petulant little child...that needs to be treated exactly as such.
I shouldn't have to ask you to leave if you get a call. When your phone vibrates (not rings), you should quietly get up and leave my classroom before answering.
People have had sick relatives long before the advent of instant-communication, and we did just fine. Deal with it. You aren't as important as you think.
Re: (Score:3)
A doctor and a student are not the same thing. If a student misses a call, in most cases, there is no immediate danger to someones life. Truthfully, just because something is done one way in the "real world" it does not mean it is correct. The phone is one of the rudest devices ever created. It allows anyone to barge into someones conversation without thought of if the interruption is important or not. I actually do not answer my phone when I am having a conversation with someone unless I was expecting
Re: (Score:3)
You obviously missed when I said I get so focused on the professor's lecture that I have missed calls. So no vibrate doesn't work for me.
Then set the phone on the desk where you can hear it vibrate. You don't have to be disruptive.
Not everyone is the same, and hopefully you learn that before to long. I do the exact same thing at conferences and professional business presentations as well. When I ran my own business, I'll be damned if anyone is going to tell me I can't take a call during a conference lecture. I will get up and leave the room, but I absolutely am going to take that call because my office knew not to call me unless it was very important.
That's your problem, an you use it as an excuse to impact on other's in the classroom.
I am not going to leave it on vibrate because I have missed so many calls doing that. I don't always feel the phone vibrating. That is how it works in the real world and I was not the only one who did this. You will see this type of behavior all the time at conferences, especially when large percentages of those in attendance own their own business.
Yea, people are rude in the real world as well.
That is how the real world works, and professors at universities should realize that and adapt.
You keep talking about the real world but I don't think you know what that means. I've worked in environments where having a cell phone ring was considered bad; and could be career limiting if it happened too often. We've kicked people off of projects because they can't seem to fo
Re: (Score:3)
Cellphones ringing in a class are very distracting, even if you go outside to take the call. If you can't live with silent/vibrate mode, then I'm sorry to say, but you do not belong to the classroom. You are not entitled to screw over other people for the sake of your own convenience. That is how real world works.
When you have your own business, you can do whatever you want. But a university is not your business, and so you play by their rules - or leave.
Hmm.... (Score:2)
I suffer from hyper mobility in my fingers, if I wasn't allowed to use my laptop to type my notes I would have quickly fallen far behind as my writing speed is horrendous and painful.
They shouldn't assume that laptops act as a distraction to everybody, if a computer in front of someone else is a distraction to you then you're clearly looking for a distraction and just need something to blame.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
Well, I am also a lecturer, but I've never understood that attitude. If a student feels they can learn the material more efficiently in another way, then let them try and deal with the consequences. They are young, but they are also adults and should be expected to take responsibility for their own education. If somebody truly learns better from the book than from the lectures, why would I make them sit through the lectures? University isn't some kind of endurance test, it is about getting an education.
Now,
Re: (Score:3)
No, I'm not lecturing punctuality. I'm lecturing linguistics, language acquisition, education, cognition, and memory...things dealing with acquiring a language to non-native language learners. I'm also lecturing working adults who WANT to be in class, so I don't have the problems associated with slacker 18-year olds spending their parents' retirement to stay up late, sleep in, and skip class.
It IS insulting because I put a lot of work into my work. If you can't be bothered to come to class, then don't even
Try this. (Score:5, Insightful)
"[W]hen I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction."
How about having the ones with laptops sitting in the back or the ones distracted sitting in front (perhaps depending on whichever is the larger group).
Or maybe remove the class. (Score:2)
Wouldn't it make more sense to remove the class than the computer?
Put the teacher inside the screen and let the students decide where and when they want to study. Those who aren't able to manage the responsability will fail, as they should.
It's time to start treating people as adults and also to demand to be treated as such.
WTF? (Score:2)
What kind of a retarded question is that? Banning classroom use of silly text books and writing on paper is what should be getting banned.
Depends.... (Score:3)
I'm a little mixed on the topic. I've had horrible handwriting since I was a kid. But I had an excellent memory. Something I learned in middle school and high school was I had a choice: I could either take notes, to which I could read very little of if I went back later, or I could pay attention to the lecture and retain more of it. The exceptions were math/physics. Those classes I had to take notes as I'd understand the material in class, but if I went to do homework later that night or the next night, I wouldn't remember the finer points.
I had a laptop in college, rarely used it for note taking in class. Once again, for most classes I could take notes (paper or computer) or listen and learn the lecture. Again the exception being classes that were math intensive or subjects like Econ where drawing graphs were kinda hard on a computer.
That changed, however, when I was in Law School. There having a laptop was almost a must and a useful tool. I had hard copies of the texts, but also CD-rom's of the case law and the particular program made it extremely easy to highlight text and leave margin notes on the computer. Extremely useful when you're reading 300 pages a night and then needed to make references the next day in class. I'm not sure if I would have survived 1L with out those notes on the computer.
But I wasn't using it to *take* notes in class as much as search/recall information already stored from the night/day before.
Yes! (Score:2)
Kill the laptops!
College was fine before the laptop was invented.
No, they should make the classes more difficult (Score:4, Funny)
Students will be a lot less likely to be using Facebook in a class if it's their second time through.
But... (Score:2)
Banning laptops in class would infringe on students' rights to attempt first post on every slashdot story! We can't let the trolls win! You aren't a troll sympathiser, are you?
Distractions (Score:2, Redundant)
I'll admit it, when I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction.
Usually the hot girl in the short chick distracts me. Not someone's computer.
Laptop use essential (Score:2)
Laptop use during lectures seems pretty essential for taking notes. Duh?
A better practice... (Score:2)
Would be to record the lecture, preferably with a small video camera, but audio in many cases is sufficient when combined with written notes. The laptop can be saved for later use, and the student can have a conversation with the Prof. to make video notes and lecture content available for the class as extra credit. Good for grades, no distraction, and you can use the laptop where it will actually do some good. The last thing we need is to make things harder for our attention deficit progeny.
Distractions (Score:2)
I'll admit it, when I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction.
Computers are boring. The hot girl in the short skirt is a major distraction.
Laptop use essential. (Score:2)
Laptop use during lectures seems pretty essential for taking notes. Duh?
tough one (Score:2)
As a prof. I would certainly expect everyone to close their laptop. At least while I'm speaking. There's something rude about people looking elsewhere while you speak to them.
As a former student though, plenty profs have wasted my time - a laptop would've allowed me to do something more useful. Now I ended up writing code on paper while many fellow students made drawings, did homework for other classes, etc.
If a student can't concentrate, it's his problem (Score:2)
For students who can manage it, bringing a laptop to class is progress. We should n
How about this... (Score:2)
Get more creative with your teaching methods and embrace the inevitable.
Yes, but not for these reasons... (Score:5, Insightful)
But as a sidebar I just want to point out how lame "college" has become. It used to be for those serious about their education or the academic subjects, but now it is just another mandatory level of education with the same behavioural problems from those who really have no wish to be in attendance. The fact that we're talking about treating 19 to 24 year olds like small children should tell you how silly the situation is becoming.
Ban Facebook (Score:3)
Block the problem, not the tool.
Like anything (Score:2)
ADD (Score:2)
Its a problem; laptop or no laptop.
I've sat in lectures 200+ students and there were plenty of people screwing off. I just didnt let it bother me. If you're taking a class to learn the material you need to pay attention. You want it or you don't. Its as simple as that
taking notes (Score:3)
I never understood why students need to take notes. When I was in college I never took notes, instead I tried to listen and understand what was being said. The rest of the required information I got from the course material that was prepared by the teacher.
Re:taking notes (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe. But on the other hand, taking notes may distract you from actually understanding the material that's being presented.
Well, maybe ... (Score:2)
As a university lecturer I don't see much of a trend to bring laptops to lectures: our students seem to prefer sleeping or not attending at all. But I think if I was faced with a wall of laptop backs when I looked at the audience I would suggest tha
All of our Students use Laptops.... (Score:2)
They are not connected to the net, so the students really don't care usually. We have had very few problems in our classes.
I think it is a respect thing. It's one thing to take notes/record a lecture, but another to twitter/facebook. Ultimately I think it is plain rude.
I completely agree with the students policing themselves at College/Un
Oh please, we're adults (Score:2)
Carolyn sez:
Having your laptop out not only distracts other students, but is disrespectful and discouraging to professors.
As far as I understand, most lecture participation is optional anyway (or should be!). As long as I can type quietly (if I do type, that is), I can’t see it being distracting or discouraging. I have got A’s in grad school in classes where I was reading Harry Potter most of the time. Using a notebook to work on something else would have been no different.
Wireless Jamming... (Score:2)
Might be one way to prevent the Facebook and YouTube watching during lecture. But it would do nothing for DVD watching and gaming.
Education system is broken, obviously (Score:2)
I am working as researcher/post-grad student, and computer is the number one research tool. Like is hammer for a blacksmith. No surprises there.
When in the same place I work should "forbid" the major research tool in the classrooms, this is an obvious sight that the teaching system I-speak-and-you-listen-and-take-notes is broken. Or at least obsolete.
For most of the time I have been good student, and I am writing a doctoral dissertation now. One would expect I like lectures. Still, most of them are boring a
Wuntootree... (Score:2)
1. My money, my education, my choice.
2. Distractions are everywhere in the 21st century. You probably wont get a job in a sensory-deprivation booth... more likely it will be a chaotic office/call center/lab/kitchen. Deal with it.
3. Who uses a frikkin' screen-saver on a laptop?
Move. (Score:2)
"I'll admit it, when I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction.'"
Most laptop users (unless they are intently taking notes) don't sit in the front row.
Or since you're a CS student, if laptop user is sitting in 'n' row.
Sit in row m, such that mn.
If they're distracting the teacher, then sure remove them.
Let them know when it's okay to use them? (Score:2)
A: No (Score:2)
Compromise (Score:2)
With only the visual distraction to worry about, it would be enough to limit laptop use to the rear half (or third) of the auditorium. As long as the front rows are kept free of them, nobody has to sit behind a distracting screen.
Let them know when it's okay to use them? (Score:2)
No (Score:2)
Attention in class (Score:2)
I tend to get bored during trainings, because most of them are too slow-paced for my learning rhythm. So I check e-mails and even do a bit of work while the trainer whizzes in the background. It would seem stupid t punish me for that.
But educators' thinking patterns are so 80's...
Laptops vs Cell phones (Score:2)
At the beginning of each lecture, the instructor will issue a control statement detailing the acceptable behavior in the class.
Most instructors ask the students to close their laptops. Notes are generally provided on the topics covered.
The Laptops are not connected to an outside network, however it has been noticed th
I owuld ask the students kindly (Score:2)
to
a) Not use the Internet while in class
b) Not play any animation while in class
c) Select Notebook Models with a decent low noise of the keyboard
d) Strictly use their notebooks for note taking, and possibly looking up old lectures.
People doing something else would be welcome to watch the powerpoint presentation whenever and wherever they want.
First CLACK (Score:2)
SpeaCLICK persITTYCLICK I don't fiCLACKETY-CLACK much of a disCLACKtion.
Of course not (Score:2)
Ultimately the students (or their parents) are paying insanely high amounts money for that education. At some point, the student needs to take an interest in receiving an education. I do not feel that the school has the responsibility to make them learn.
The fact is, the world has changed. Computers will always be with us, we will always be connected to internet and have access to the information we need. Assuming of course something catastrophic doesnt happen, in which case, it wont really matter.
I think th
Laptops? Just turn off WiFi. (Score:2)
Laptops are the new notebook - some students even film lectures for future reference. Just turn off WiFi/web access!
No, but they should shut down WiFi... (Score:2)
The problem isn't the laptop, it's the Facebook and chat. Shut down the WiFi for the duration of the class and the problem goes away.
Laptops? Just turn off Wifi Access! (Score:2)
Laptops are the new notebook - and some students even film lectures for future reference. Just turn off Wifi and/or Web access - problem solved.
Sadly... (Score:2)
Because I was too distracted by my roommate's laptop, I wasn't able to focus fast enough for first post.
Distraction? (Score:2)
Maybe we should spend some time teaching students how to filter? Sure students should be able to say when a peer's computer use is distracting them, but a screen saver is distracting you? Let's not get rid of laptops because some students are easily distracted.
Banning Laptops? Just turn off Wifi! (Score:2)
Laptops are the new spiral notebook - and some students even use laptops to film lectures for future reference. Just turn off WiFi and problem solved.
Seating fix (Score:2)
Seating fix (Score:2)
Of course not (Score:2)
A couple points.
1. The students pay a lot of money for their education. They must, on their own, take an active part in the learning process. The school needn't force them to learn.
2. Times, they are a-changing. Like it or not, we will always be with our computers in the very near future. We will always be connected to the web. The information will always be available to us. It's not going away. I see this as an opportunity.
Rather that forbid computers, the school should encourage this! They should rather t
ebooks (Score:2)
one use for computers is to read e-books. One instructor of mine made her book available to her students in pdf format. I wish I had a tablet.
Another angle (Score:2)
I'm sure there's going to be a lot of disussion about laptops being tools - being useful in some instances, harmful in others - so I'm going to avoid that point and instead raise the issue of accessability. As it is, educational attainment is scewed by socio-economic status - be it grades, prestige of the institution attended, networks formed, or whatever other measure desired. I'm not sure I want laptops
Go with the classic (Score:2)
Ban everything and let the Dean sort it out!
As long as its for learning (Score:2)
I see no problem in using a laptop as long as its being used for education related activities. If they dont want everyone browsing pr0n, chatting or facebooking they only need block those sites and services from the campus wifi. But I think the ability to google something when your learning is a must. I find it a big help to be able to research things I am learning about on the fly.
Keep the laptops, kill the wireless (Score:2)
I prefer to take notes with my laptop but totally agree that too many students lack the self-control not to check email, Facebook or IM their friends while in class. If you allow the professors the ability to kill the room's WiFi the educational experience will be enhanced (lining the rooms with lead to block cell phones would also be heaven).
Most certainly (Score:2)
If we're talking about lectures, most certainly so. I would dismiss any student trying to hide behind a screen of digital hogwash, if you're not interested in what someone is lecturing, why even bother showing up? If you want to make notes, bring a non-intrusive pen and paper. Beats the hell out of any tablet/laptop loaded with whatever note-taking utility.
Deal with it. (Score:2)
"I'll admit it, when I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction."
Err okay, so what are you going to do when college is over and you go to work in an office environment?
Coping with this is a life skill (Score:2)
Learning to cope with this and being productive is therefore an important life skill. Yes, it
Deal with it. (Score:2)
I'll admit it, when I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture, even someone's screensaver in the row ahead of me can be a major distraction.'"
Err okay, what are you going to do when college is over and you go to work in an office environment?
Most certainly so. (Score:2)
When students try to hide themselves behind a screen of digital hogwash I would instantly dismiss them. If you aren't interested in what the lecturer has to say, why even bother showing up? If you want to take notes, utilize far more superior tools: pen and paper. Beats the hell out of any not-taking utility on any laptop/tablet.
Students should be actively engaged with lecturers, and not be dividing their time between them and their computer.
Classroom when you have a laptop ? (Score:3)
No! (Score:3)
Why would someone even ask this question, let alone get it headlined on Slashdot?
Like it or not, computers are an integral part of higher education in the U.S. and can't be removed. Lecture notes and other materials are routinely provided online, most communications are via email or via campus-wide chatboards, and grades are supplied via online systems.
To cut off students from all these resources during lecture may have certain merit from the point of view of a vain or self-important professor who believes all eyes should be on him, but for maximizing efficiency of learning, students today have to have their laptops.
For one thing, most young people can barely write without a keyboard. I do like to take notes on paper, but typing is so much faster that there's no comparison. For a fast typist, it's the difference between getting almost all of the information down and getting maybe 60% or 70% of the information down. There are certain advantages to writing, like drawing arrows, figures, etc. Heck, you really need both. But the keyboard rules.
There are students who learn better at their own pace, who get little out of the lectures, but who need to be in the lecture hall in case sneaky professors provide information verbally that is not written down in the lecture notes. Such students can read, study other material, and half-listen. I've done it myself. It's perhaps not ideal, but it's a way to get through a course.
Another point to consider is that even if they managed to ban laptop use in lecture halls on some luddite campus, the students will still have smartphones which are functionally similar. Do we also ban use of iPhones and Android phones? Force the students to keep them out of sight? What about students with iPad and Kindle type computers which literally slide into a notebook and are barely visible?
What about students with hearing impediments or other physical problems that rely on computers to get them through a lecture?
Thanks for playing. Next.
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I have an electrical engineering degree from a decent school. I started in 1994.
I never saw a computer my whole time in a lecture.
I never used a calculator once in a calculus, differential equations, linear matrices, or complex multivariable calculus. They were banned.
Lectures were for listening and learning. Tutorials for questions. Labs were for learning and building.
Articles such as these make me very worried about what university education is turning into.
It definitely IS acceptable (Score:3)
Um, no? (Score:3)
How about coping? (Score:3)
Profs:
If you want to ban laptops, then you need to go after cell phones, pagers, and everything else a student can bring in. I don't care about the result, as long as its uniform.
You may be required to change your teaching methods, to engage more students.
Students:
If you can't pay attention in class, it could be that's your problem. You may need to focus on the class and not care what screensavers are running on laptops, since you'll have to do the same thing when you are done with school.
Or gang up on the Facebook students and ask them to be more polite.
Seems to Me (Score:3)
Seems to me that this should be a choice. The student (or their family) are paying for the college in the first place, should it not be their choice whether or not they pay attention? I realize that in theory the idea of distraction might be valid (distracting other kids with screensavers and games), it also seems to me that a little self control would go a long way there for the kids who are being distracted. Alternatively, as another poster mentioned have a brief at the start of the session about laptop etiquette.
Of course, I think that the social network problem and games could both be battled with a relatively simple fix; turn off the wireless! Last I checked, laptops still come with onboard storage for documents... hell even that Google thing has storage for offline edits. Most game players are playing online games anyway these days, so turning off the wifi makes it less interesting... though yes, the hardcore gamers might still fire up a game in class. Having said all this, the same students who are playing games and their social networks during a class are probably the same students who doodle in their notebooks and distract those around them during class... should we also ban pen and paper?
It seems to me that the technology progresses, but people remain fundamentally the same. You're not going to fix that by striking out at the new technology. I am not currently in college, but my girlfriend is and they've had exactly this discussion in the last 12 months because she likes to take notes using her cellphone (an old HTC Touch Pro), which she can then save, email or print. Me, I go to meeting with my iPhone and use Evernote to take notes during the meeting... that way I have a copy of it waiting on my desktop computer when I get out of the meeting. And yes, I've seen people at meetings sitting there with their cellphones playing games or on Facebook... hell, I've done it once or twice. Still, that's my choice; if I miss something fundamental in the meeting because I'm distracted then I will pay the price... no-one else.
Don't Care (at the College Level) (Score:3)
I have taught at the elementary, middle, high school levels, as well as adult and technical training.
In the technical training I've done, it's on them to pay attention. For the kids, it's on me to make them pay attention (and by kids, I mean K-12, not college students).
The only ban I would consider would be if their behavior is distracting the OTHER students, like using their cell phone in class. Other than that, if Mommy and Daddy keep wanting to pay for little Sally to get Cs and Ds in college, then so be it.
No, students should take responsibility (Score:3)
Keep the laptops, keep the wifi.
Explain to students that there aren't many professional work environments that ban either, so they need to get used to managing their own usage, and get used to people around them doing things on their laptops. It's an opportunity for people who have problems with either or both to learn that if they can't rein in their attention, they're going to fail at class, at work and at life.
For those that say that it's not the job of the class to teach these lessons, I agree - it's simply the students' job to take control of their own life. It's no different than someone tailgating you on the freeway or cutting in front of you in line. University classrooms are learning environments and professors and TAs should help enforce that, but they aren't surrounded by some magical force field that entitles you to a guardian angel when you walk in.
If Joe Laptop won't turn off Netflix or Quake Live, grow a pair and ask them to turn it off, or just get up and move. Don't sit next to him next time. If your classroom has become a LAN party with every student except for you participating, talk to the TA or professor after class and ask them to help. It is their responsibility to help ensure that you have an opportunity to learn; it's not their job to guarantee that you'll have a private fort wherever you decide to sit.
Leave it up to the teacher. (Score:3)
Until you spend some time on the lonely side of the podium, it's hard to comment with a full scope of knowledge on this question.
Classes where laptops are left closed result in much more engaged and dynamic classes. Those where they are open result in the "room full of zombies" effect. There's a reason it's so annoying to talk with somebody who looks away and digs in a purse or engages elsewhere when it's your turn to speak. The bio-feedback loop collapses and the teacher might as well post lectures on YouTube and students post questions in an on-line forum somewhere. Heck; on YouTube you can pause and re-play stuff. And it's cheaper!
Universities were built and people attend them at great cost in order to assemble like-minds in one place so that everybody can benefit from those aspects of humanity which thrive on face to face communication, (also earned at great cost through the trials of evolution). There are many layers of communication taking place, both subtle and extreme, which bring a room alive when people engage in each other in meat-space, but which are stripped away when it's done through a computer screen. This doesn't mean that the virtual world is without benefit. It's not; computers are a boon. But the virtual world can be attended any time, any place you can flip open a laptop. It was built to simulate the grand effect of a campus assembly. But if you are actually attending a college assembly. . ?
Laptops need to be used responsibly. Turn off animations and distracting screen savers in respect of the people sitting near you. If you're going to take notes, then sure, do so, but have the courtesy to limit it to notes and stay engaged in discussions. If you need to look something up to aid the discussion, then sure, do that, but in general things work best when all eyes and ears are on whoever is speaking. If you want to play on Facebook or dip into a game, then that's fine by me, but please physically leave class first because you're literally sucking the life out of the room by removing your mind and leaving a vacant corpse in your chair. It's creepy.
Ideally, I like to have wifi and fluorescent lights killed and windows open for fresh air. I also like to rearrange the chairs so that we can all see each other to better engage. Do that, and everybody wakes up, but these days it's very hard to scrub an environment of all the fuzz designed to keep us zoned out.
-FL
Kind of like work... (Score:3)
I haven't been in school since 1990, but sometimes at work, someone will insist that people close laptops during a meting.
Its usually either a self-important, ignorant project manager or a director.
Because they take notes in their stupid leather bound book, they assume the rest of us should too.
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Personally, I say let them filter certain websites on the academic networks with the ability to request per-account authorizations when a student is doing a research project dealing with social networking. It's not going to stop anyone from SD, but it will at least stop the casual classroom infringer (for a while). Granted, soon everyone will just have CDMA or GSM laptops capable of getting online from anywhere, and school wifi networks will be bypassed completely. It's a tricky subject, and students wil
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If I ever had a problem with a student I would ask them to be quite or leave the class directly. If they are still a jerk then I get a little louder and say it so the whole class can hear and use peer pressure to make them fall into line. I don't expect someone else to deal with my problems for me. I deal with them directly on my own in a reasonable and peaceful manner. If students haven't learned how to do this then they better learn because it is a skill they absolutely have to have once they leave colleg
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Why is that? Because you think that you write well that everyone should have to be able to do that? Guess what in the real world no one writes by hand anymore. They type everything they do in the business world so it is easily readable by everyone. Also some of us can type faster than we can write. I type much faster than I write, of course I grew up on computers from the time I was 8, so have had years of experience sitting in front of keyboard typing that others may not have. That is still no reason to pu
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Maybe they could just not have WiFi in the classrooms. If they don't have MSN facebook tweets popping up the whole time then the laptops would be much less of a distraction.
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I type my notes into my personal Wiki (so they are available to me everywhere and can easily be organized). Take my wifi from my cold dead hands!
Seriously, why should I be punished to force the facebookers/warcrafters to pay attention? What's next, banning pencils because people like to doodle?
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I love my iPad, but I have to tell you -- it would do a terrible job note-taking.
My old Windows Tablet XP machine would do a better job, it had a stylus, handwriting-recognition, and a keyboard. Combined with Microsoft One-Note, it would do about as good a job IMO as a pen a paper -- but be easier to share with your classmates.
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Like most touch typists, I type several times faster than I write. Even still, taking notes with a laptop isn't the right answer. Even if you're using a laptop (or, for that matter, a pencil