I just read an interesting article about college professors banning laptops in their classroom. This seems so ironic because laptops seem like such a "college" thing, where students have access to the internet on hand, but maybe it has taken a turn for the worst. At University of Chicago Law School classroom wifi was turned off, so that students are forced to focus and reject the internet distractions.
While I can see both sides of this argument it seems a bit intense. I feel that since students and parents are paying so much money for college tuition, it should be up to the student to act responsibly and focus in class. If someone cannot handle a lecture without checking facebook, tweeting, or playing solitaire, GOOD LUCK in the real world. This is one little temptation students have to fight in order to put the effort in to succeed.
I wanted to see what you guys have to say on this topic, yay or nay on laptops?
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I understand where you are coming from on this topic. It makes sense that students are only hurting themselves if they are focusing on facebook or checking email, instead of the teacher's lecture. However, speaking as someone who has been sitting behind students who are playing on facebook for the entire class, it is so distracting. I am a very visual learner so I tend to end up watching the person in front of me facebook instead of concentrating on what the professor is saying. Therefore, being on facebook, tweeting, or playing solitare can often detract from the learning of others in the classroom who are trying to pay attention, not just the individuals who are messing around on their computer. Just something to think about!
ReplyDeleteI do completely agree that the people goofing off are a distraction to the entire class. Do you think classrooms should be laptop free?
ReplyDeleteSome good thoughts here. I banned it last semester in TE150 for the reasons stated here, but have let them be used this semester but asked students not to use fb, games, etc. because could distract others. I'm still pondering this myself so would love more takes on this.
ReplyDeleteI actually was in a class I'm taking for my PhD the other night and went on to FB to find a link I posted that went with class discussion but a friend in the class gave me crap about it (in a fun way), so this is really a relevant question!
I posted a follow up here: Laptops in College Classes
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this was such a debatable topic, the follow ups have been very interesting!
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