I’ve updated this post after discussing the issue with my class.
I can think of no journalism professors I admire more than Clay Shirky and Jay Rosen. But I (so far) disagree with them on the subject of whether to allow students to use laptops and mobile devices during class.
Clay has explained in a blog post why he bans computers from his classroom. Jay chimed in his agreement:
Why I Just Asked My Students To Put Their Laptops Away https://t.co/WG3EOCaGW8 by @cshirky. I’ve come to the same place.
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) September 10, 2014
They both have notably more classroom experience than I do, and they might be right. I encourage you to read Clay’s full explanation and won’t try to summarize it here, but he cites research about how multitasking can interfere with learning.
My limited experience is different. I was very glad yesterday that a student had her laptop and multitasked in class.
In my syllabus, I tell students that they are welcome to use their laptops (or other devices) to take notes, look up links relating to class discussion or even to livetweet our discussions. However, I said, if I see them using Facebook or otherwise giving in to the distractions the device can present, I will ask them to shut their devices. But let’s be honest: I’m in front of the classroom and not very likely to play laptop cop often. I presume some of them are communicating with friends, etc. during class.
But yesterday, when I had cause during a class discussion to mention the famous Kevin Carter photo of a vulture stalking a child dying during the Ethiopian famine, a student found the photo in seconds so I could hold up her laptop and show the class. I hadn’t planned to mention the photo, or I might have had it ready to project on the classroom screen. I momentarily thought about finding it and showing it, but I had not even signed in on the classroom computer (I’ll probably do that before class now, even if I don’t have something planned to show) and didn’t want to delay the discussion while I signed on, waited for the projector to warm up and searched for the photo. But when I thought of the photo spontaneously as an example to make in a discussion we were having, showing the photo would have really helped make my point. The photo was shot in 1993, probably before most of my students were born. Many may never have seen it. And I was able to show it in class because a student took a few seconds to multitask on her laptop. I appreciated not just the example, but that she used her laptop to become more engaged in the class.
In another case, a student mentioned a video in class that related to another discussion. She emailed the video link to me during class (would she have remembered after class if I didn’t let her have her laptop open? I doubt it), and I posted it on the class blog.
In addition, I take better notes on a laptop than writing in a notebook, and I have decades’ experience taking notes on paper. I think and hope my students, who have spent much of their lives using electronic keyboards, will take better notes with their laptops than with pen and paper.
I value Clay’s and Jay’s experience and I’m sure that my students with their laptops open are facing other distractions and some are no doubt multitasking and missing some of what I say. But I regard it as my job to get and hold their attention. And I remember the distractions I could find simply by daydreaming when professors failed to hold my attention in pre-laptop days.
To a certain extent, I feel that adult students need to take responsibility for their own education. If they bring distractions into the classroom, then they are responsible for the damage from those distractions to the education they (and their parents) are paying for. And I welcome the better note-taking and the contributions from students who can find helpful material on their devices.
I especially respect Clay’s point about secondary distractions — students who are trying to pay attention being distracted by the material on the screens of their neighbors. I’m going to discuss this matter with my students tomorrow and I’ll let them vote on it (using their devices).
But, unless they embrace a laptop ban, students in my classes can use their laptops, tablets or cellphones and manage the distractions they bring. At least until I get as much experience and wisdom as Clay and Jay.
Update: My students were unanimous in wanting laptops. I invited anyone who’s bothered by distractions to text or email me and no one did. I remember two examples, including the one about the starvation photo, when students contributed to the class from relevant information they found on their laptops. I asked how many used their laptops either to pull up a link I was showing or to look for related information that they hadn’t shared with the class but had helped their understanding of the topics being discussed. Most hands in the classroom went up. One contrasted it with a class where she can’t use her laptop. She finds that handwriting is a distraction from what the professor is saying. She can’t keep up as well and she misses some things. I value what Clay and Jay (and others in comments here and on Facebook) have said. But for the Introduction to Mass Media course I’m teaching and for my teaching style and my students’ preferences, I think it’s best to allow use of laptops and other devices. Will let you know if I change my mind.
Update: Thanks to Steve Smith for sharing in the comments below a link to some research showing that students retain information better if they take notes in handwriting rather than on a laptop. I remain skeptical. I see some indication of bias both in the paraphrased explanations from the scholars and in the summary of the research by the Vox reporter. And I’m deeply skeptical of research that “proves” the researchers’ preconceived notions. The study, by controlling for the distractions of the Internet, also eliminated the opportunity of deeper engagement through relevant use of the Internet. For instance, the student who found the starvation photo probably has more retention of yesterday’s discussion than either students taking notes on laptops or taking notes by hand. But I will share this study with the students tomorrow and discuss these issues with them.
One more update: In my initial post, relying on my memory, I said the starvation photo was from Ethiopia. It was from Southern Sudan.
[…] have said they don’t allow students to use laptops, tablets or cellphones during class. I disagree (so far). We’ll discuss this in class Thursday. What do you […]
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You made a few great points. Using technology in the classroom makes learning so much more valuable if done the right way. I think you’ve figured it out. Glad to have discovered your site.
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Steve,
Like you, I am relatively new to teaching — in my fifth year at the University of Idaho. In my first year, give or take, my policies were similar to your own. But I have hardened considerably and now ban all electronics in class.
It is true that research shows students who take notes on a laptop are less capable of retaining important information. That is a good reason, in and of itself.
But the distraction issue is huge. Two problems.
First, students who stray from class work to Facebook, smartphone messaging and so on distract other students. Phones beep and even ring. Student A in the back row will send a message to student B down in the front row who is compelled to answer or share or laugh or snort. In the one survey class i teach — more than 100 students — the tsunami effect of even a few students going off task can disturb an entire class.
Second, I am more easily distracted. Maybe it is a function of age, but students tapping away on devices while i am trying to put together a coherent thought get in the way of that process, sometimes even bringing a discussion to a screeching halt.
To compensate for no electronics, I send directly to all students who are actually in attendance, copies of all lectures, materials, links, Power Points (if used), etc. So they get everything and with an hour or two of the class dismissal. I tell students I would rather have them paying attention and participating than trying to keep up with me by taking notes (though written notes are always encouraged for my journalism students).
It usually takes a week or two for my electronics ban to sink in. But I get no complaints during the semester and have yet to see a written complaint in the anonymous online evaluations that are produced at the end of the semester.
(One student did challenge me for asking a student to stop knitting during ethics class. The click of her needles finally became too much for me. The critical student said there was nothing on the syllabus banning such activities and I was wrong to call on her to stop. All of my syllabi now include a “no knitting” expectation.)
I agree it is my obligation to make classes as interesting and compelling as possible, I think students engaged in active listening and lively discussions helps make that possible,
And I certainly have to acknowledge that some days I must seem like a soulless drone trying to gin up the required energy.
But these students are paying a small fortune for the best i can give them and i think it’s my responsibility to foster a classroom environment free of frivolous distractions and play time, even if it involves just a few goof offs. At least my limited experience leads me there.
For what it is worth. So glad to see you join the academic ranks. A great fit at a great school and working with Ceppos to boot. Good move.
Steve Smith
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First, Steve, thanks for the kind words. Yes, I am enjoying working with Jerry.
As for your response, I’d be interested in seeing the research showing that students retain less information if they take notes on laptops. I’m also skeptical of it and wonder how current it is (is it true of students who have been using electronic devices their entire lives. This is just observation, not research: Taking notes on a laptop increases the readability and volume of my notes and increases their value to me if I review them, and the very act of writing (either on a keyboard or on paper) increases my retention, but I don’t notice any difference between the retention depending on my writing tools. I also wonder whether, if the research is current and valid, it shows any variance according to the student’s ability or intellect. This is an honors class, and I suspect better students might use devices more effectively.
I don’t find their tapping distracting, so I think that’s just a personal difference.
And we have enough spontaneous discussion and Q&A in class that my lecture notes would be partial at best.
I’m not locked into my approach. I’ll discuss with the students tomorrow (and update the blog). And this might well be something that I change my position on down the road. If it’s a rookie mistake, it won’t be my only one. (And, I should add, this is my ninth college-level course (11th if we count some adult-ed courses for a community college), so I’m not dealing with this issue for the first time. I did teach once in a classroom that was a computer lab (with a classroom layout), so the students were hiding behind huge monitors, whether they were using their computers or not. It made eye contact really difficult (I sometimes moved off to the side to get better eye contact, as well as a view of their screens). Those monitors were a much bigger problem for me than laptops have ever been.
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I’m on your side, Steve. Banning laptops because they MIGHT be used in a distracting manner is no different than banning, say, newspapers from the classroom, because a student might open one up and block another student’s view. If something is being used in a way that’s distracting, it’s the behavior, not the object, that’s the problem.
If students are ignoring me to focus on something on their laptops, that’s no different than if they were glancing through notes for a different class or merely daydreaming. Can multitasking interfere with learning? Sure. But laptops are hardly the only way students ever multitasked in classrooms. And students will be faced with the challenge of resisting the temptation to web surf on the job, too. Better they work out their own solution in class first.
Some of the profs I work with ban all electronic devices, or demand that all cell phones at least be turned off. Even demanding that phones be turned off seems too much for me. It is a fact of life today that more and more people, especially the young, expect to be in constant communication. And I think we can expect them to be responsible for the way they manage that. If someone’s phone keeps ringing during class, or if someone engages in conversations while I’m talking, I’ll deal with that individually.
My attitude may be influenced in part by having been a student myself fairly recently. I would have felt insulted if one of the profs in my grad classes told us we were not allowed to use electronic devices. Yes, sometimes a student’s phone rang and he or she had to leave the room to deal with it. Maybe someone’s child had a crisis, or a boss was called about a problem at work. Each student could make his or her own decision about priorities.
Bottom line, setting rules like “no laptops” is a heavy-handed way to deal with potential problems. It’s like making an entire kindergarten class stay after school because one student was talking during lessons. Or like any one of the many times a boss of mine imposed some stupid rule on the newsroom because he or she either didn’t want or didn’t know how to deal with an individual problem. (Like a graphics editor who declared that the art department could never use letters or numbers in its illustrations, even if the illustration was of, say, a speed limit sign.) We should be modeling for our students the right way to manage.
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I’m fine with a professor setting some rules of engagement for the class, John. I don’t see it as heavy-handed (but I agree that some students might). I just like (so far) the advantages I see in laptop use.
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Hi, Steve. I am not about to give advice on this question. I think teachers should experiment for themselves and come to their own conclusions. But I do want to clarify something.
You wrote, “To a certain extent, I feel that adult students need to take responsibility for their own education. If they bring distractions into the classroom, then they are responsible for the damage from those distractions to the education they (and their parents) are paying for.”
All true. But I already knew who was responsible (they were, as adults) and they also knew who was responsible (they were, as adults) and yet they were still getting distracted and the quality of their in-class participation was poor. They needed to take responsibility, as you put it, but they weren’t doing so, and so I finally decided, as Clay puts it, that I needed to give them more help.
By the way, I noticed an immediate difference in attention, note taking and feedback during in-class presentations by students. Dramatic difference, and entirely for the better. It was like an A/B test. Same task, same situation, same demands on students, same level of “interestingness,” but a different tech policy. Cheers.
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Interesting feedback, Jay. I may run my own A/B test, especially if I start noticing any issues with attention, note-taking and feedback. For what it’s worth, this is an honors class and my classes at Georgetown and American, where I also allowed computer use, were graduate-level classes. As I mentioned on another comment, I did have an issue with desktop computers in a classroom where I taught, but that issue was more about eye contact — huge desktop monitors between me and the students, whether they were on the computers or not.
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Steve,
I should note i teach undergraduates, including the introductory media survey course which is made up mostly of freshmen and transfer students. I think one of my obligations is to help them develop good classroom and study skills that will help them survive our rigorous program. We do not have a graduate program, so all of my classes are undergraduate. Notably, I have fewer electronics issues in the upper division classes.
I don’t see this as controlling a potential problem. In my experience, electronics are a real problem. Tangible. But manageable.
Finally, here is a link to a September Vox article on new research. It has links to some of the more detailed analyses. But the research is new.
http://www.vox.com/2014/6/4/5776804/note-taking-by-hand-versus-laptop?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_name=share-button&utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=article-share-bottom
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I completely agree with your post. I have been an educator for seventeen years. I allow my students to use their devices in class. Are they sometimes on social media or scrounging through emails? Probably. More often they pull up images, examples, and general information faster than I can get it out, or pull it up on my own system. Teachers do have to decide for themselves works best for them, their subject, and their students. I multi-task on my devices when I take classes. Sometimes I miss stuff, but sometimes I am more fully engaged because I am taking better notes and finding more sources. Most of the time, if I am ‘strictly paying attention’, I zone out and miss stuff anyway! A good teacher recognizes that students are different, and give his/her students SOME latitude to decide what works best for them.
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Steve, I’m new to teaching too, and like you, I allow my students to use their devices. As you said, they are valuable in journalism classes – I’ve had a couple cases where, for some reason, students can’t get the internet to work on their lab computer but can use their phones. Also, I’m a big believer in allowing students to use the technology they’re comfortable using. Yes, we’re all better when we can’t multitask. But if a student feels more comfortable typing notes, rather than writing, I feel it’s my responsibility as a professor to accommodate them rather than the other way around.
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[…] you haven’t already, read my blog post on laptops, including the comments, please read that, Clay’s post, the comments on my Facebook post and […]
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My wife said for years that she thought better and wrote better on a manual or IBM electric than either hand-written notes or a computer. I only half-jokingly ask if you’d let a student use a typewriter if studies showed they learned better that way.
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Do you think students today have strong enough fingers?
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Seriously, I think it’s a question of a combination of learning skills and potential disruption. In my two classes, I let one class use computers and the other uses them for exercises but puts them away when we’re learning AP Style, for example – when they noodle the rule, discuss it and then look it up. I might not have been a typical student, but I would have had trouble not being distracted by all of the possibilities before me on my computer. As it was, I had to work too hard to cover my inattention, so I managed to learn a great deal.
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As a student I find it difficult to write, I am slow and when working faster notes become illegible unlike a keyboard, however. I do think that emailing out all materially used and covered is useful. At the university I am currently studying at we have a website where all the current teaching materials are kept, it’s how the teachers and students both access them; so helpful.
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The use of laptops in the classroom has, in my opinion, good and bad sides. The good side is the instant access to the world wide web and presenting relevant topics.
The bad side comes out when some of the students do not concentrate on the lecture. But, they are shooting themselves in the foot!
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I am in my 17th year teaching. I have lived on all three sides of this fence. In that I have taught in the schools where they were not allowed, schools where they were allowed provisionally, and currently in a bring your own tech to school. I am a true believer that tech in schools is the way to go. My students can easily to projects, find information, and do group projects. They can look up vocabulary, play educational games, search and watch teachertube and youtube on relevant topics, as well as text their parents when necessary. We have very well defined rules regarding technology that are mostly enforced. Those that do enforce them have found that the integration of technology has been beneficial for the most part.
Many of our students take pictures of the assignments so that there are no misunderstandings. They not only write the notes but take a pic of them as well. It is a simple affair to send out mass emails with powerpoints, movies, etc that are pertinent for them to watch. We use the technology to promote and use a system for parents, teachers,and students to keep in contact with each other concerning projects and assignments.
Many of our students have difficulties keeping up with the pace of notetaking and record lectures. They bookmark websites for later viewing. While some have tried to abuse the system, if a school has a very well defined policy concerning technology, its visibility, and its use in the classroom, it becomes much easier to adjust to a fully tech functionality.
Truly the key is upholding the rules that are stated. If the teacher sets rules for when the technology may be used and abides by them, then he/she sets the example for the students to follow. It is when the teacher does not follow and adhere to her own rules, that problems occur.
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Hi, I am a medical lecturer.
I think I will start with asking my students whether they want me allowing them using their gadget.
thank you for the post.
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I honestly think it is a question of the class’s average level of maturity. Laptops, tablets, and smartphones can definitely be a great addition to an actively participating student’s experience within a classroom; however, for the not-so-high-achieving students, the distractions these devices provide are dangerous. If you find yourself teaching a class that cannot manage their attention properly, laptops (or any other kind of electronic device) should certainly be banned.
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Exactly what I was thinking. Electronic devices can be a great teaching/learning tool. however, I think the class would have to be monitored closely if you think the class is unlikely to stay focused and on task.
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Interesting post with some thoughts I’d not had until now. Thanks.
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I taught for forty years. I started out having the old book research and now lap tops. The problem is what is real and researched and true versus the made up stuff which eventually if read over and over becomes true although it is false. Authors congregate and group around the truth or their truth. Beware and research for the deep truth.
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Thanks, this was a really interesting post. I have used both ways of teaching (tech vs non tech) and have to say that if used responsibly, laptops and smart phones certainly do have their place. My school blocked social media sites and anything else that was considered inappropriate which helped a great deal. I think with the onus on IT in the workplace, using laptops in lessons can only enhance the pupil experience rather than hinder learning. This is a great topic to discuss though so well done for raising it 🙂
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You stated “my job to get and hold their attention” which is how I wish all teachers felt. When teachers are truly concentrating on making their class interesting and teaching from their own interest, I do not believe that the note taking on computer will suffer in comparison to taken on paper with pen. In reality, how many students do you know who write faster with pen and paper than type? Like you I have taken notes for decades with pen and paper and even though I would not know a “home key” if it jumped up and bit me in the butt, even though I use a total of seven of my ten digits to type in the weird way I have taught myself over the years, I can still achieve close to 80-100 words a minute with the keyboard. Longhand or even my own version of shorthand (created over the decades) is nowhere near as quick. There is also the added benefit that not looking a the keyboard gives as it allows a user to view writing on the board, pictures and even the emotions which cross a teachers face to better register on the mind and build a stronger picture of what the teacher is saying. Personally, I agree with you 100% that computers can be a benefits and that if a student really wants to flake in a class, they will find a way to do it, technology allowed or not!
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I love the idea of laptops in the classroom. However, here in Australia (and I suspect elsewhere in the world) our graduating high schoolers do their exams with paper and pen. The thing which is becoming apparent is that while they are very keyboard literate, they’ve lost the motor skills and endurance to write essays by hand – which is a problem when lengthy tests are still done on paper.
I look forward to the day when kids can do their exams using keyboards. But in the meantime, we have to keep their hands used to writing with pen and paper.
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My students will take their tests on their laptops. I don’t want to read their handwriting.
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Reblogged this on whale5609's Blog and commented:
As a student, I found this to be very interesting. Maybe other professors will change their minds.
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[…] https://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/i-appreciate-my-students-contributions-from-their-laptop… […]
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In order to make sure that your students are making a good use of their laptops, the school or university’s IT office could block the social networking and other non educational sites so that only the educational sites get filtered through the network. (But this will work only when the students are using the school’s wifi /LAN)
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I’d rather treat the students like adults. They’ve been well-engaged so far.
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I believe in creativity, and we can surely come up with a way to use the laptops, and still make the experience educational. New ideas, and finding ways to engage the students was the challenge, and it has always been.
Some of the smartest, students are also those who don’t want to sit and write, and listen. Get the students involved, and make them work together. New ideas for engaging students, and using creativity will keep students excited about learning.
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Reblogged this on ayupujirahayu's blog and commented:
please, allow me to reblog your writing..thank you.
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Yeah I agree with you that it is the student’s responsibility to pay attention to the lecture when they are paying to study.
But I have had experiences when the teacher is practically just reading from book, rather than explaining stuff. At that time I’ll rather pay attention to my phone.
But that’s my instance, and just with one teacher and not all of them.
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The Australian government funded laptops for students in state high schools in 2009. It was awful. The students were continually distracted and because there were no filters, could look up anything they wanted to. Previously I taught Information Technology in another school. I had only 15 students in a class and could log into any of their networked computers to see what they were looking at and what they had saved on their userspace. If they goofed off I could suspend their account. The amount of porn I found was incredible! And Pokemon pictures. Fast forward to 2009 and I have 36 15 year olds with unfettered access to the Internet. In the end, we stopped using them in class because I had no reasonable way of monitoring their use. I have since resigned from teaching but my last two years were a nightmare- and I had 20 years experience teaching in a computer lab. Adults should be able to cope better with the distractions and make their own decisions- so long as they don’t then hassle professors about their grades after they have spent the semester wasting time on facebook during lectures. Some of my friends who are university lecturers have had this experience.
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As always, I like the middle ground. As a teacher I’m always evaluating the effectiveness of certain approaches in the classroom, one of them being the use of portable devices. I pretty much put it out there that I embrace the use of portable devices for educational use. If it’s going to help them learn, in a way that’s relevant to them, that will probably stick much more than some method of the past, then why not?! If I observe students are getting distracted, their privilege is removed, either in taking the device for the class/day/etc, depending on the frequency, or simply informing the parents and having boundaries set on school use of the portable device.
If you’re wondering, I teach grade 10-12 students, an age where portable devices have the potential to be a huge distraction, and conversely the potential to be a huge learning tool. Treat your students like adults and they’ll act that way. You get what you expect.
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If students needed to transcribe the class, I’d go for the typing-over-handwriting argument. But they don’t. What they really need to do during class is listen well, and think, and participate. Particularly by asking questions, which others might not have thought of, but answers to which others will benefit by hearing. So looking stuff up for themselves detracts from class too.
The main reason I’ve done the same as Jay and Clay is my own experience, not as a student but as an attendee at conferences. A few years ago when the wifi finally got good in hotel meeting rooms, I found myself easily sucked away from the people in the front of the room because I had a Web browser open.
After I realized how much I had allowed myself to miss, for a couple of years I stopped taking my laptop into the conference sessions. I became a devotee of small Moleskine notebooks. Writing only a few highlights seemed a lot better than my previous practices.
In the past year I’ve returned to using a laptop during many conference sessions, but I’ve finally trained myself to stay on the text editor and not check anything in the browser unless I want to live-tweet something from the session.
We could argue that our students need to train themselves in a similar way — but as Jay said above, they need more help. I feel confident that I am helping them by telling them to close all devices and put phones away. I have seen improved engagement and, I think, attention.
I have said they can open a laptop to look something up if they feel they really need to. Few do.
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As student of Communication Sciences I can safely say that your post is completely true. I always make sure to bring my laptop with me during classes as to organize my notes straight away, so i can review them as soon as I get home without have to sort through all the cryptic words I had to write down quickly due to my pen not being able to keep up.
And you’re right, it is a student’s own responsibility to make sure he or she makes the most of the classes attended. If they can have the responsibility to have laptops on during class it will only aid them in their ability to absorb more information.
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Steve, this is a really interesting topic, the reason I opened up your site from Freshly Pressed.
I moved on from teaching just before laptops and social media became prevalent. I never had the issue to confront. My first impression – for what it’s worth – is it’s not a good idea to have them open. I learned students are mischievous when given the chance, and this opens up a cavalcade of opportunity. But it’s the good teacher who knows himself well, and is at least willing to experiment and listen to what students feel about issues and why. Good luck. My hat’s off to you and the work you do.
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The ultimate goal is learning. If laptops facilitate your students’ involvement in the lecture, engagement with the information, and retention of the material, why not? Philosophically, I’m an old-technology kind of girl, but practically–not so much.
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The generation of students who brought electronic devices into classrooms is the same that is now living in Mom’s basement, can’t find jobs in their chosen fields, and have tons of debt to pay off. How’s bringing devices into class working out for them?
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Assuming your description is true, were you daydreaming when your classes mentioned that correlation doesn’t equal causation? Or did your education just not include that important lesson?
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Something so intuitive and obvious needs to be taught to the electronics generation? Seems like a serious lack of advanced brain functioning. Correlation is a terrific starting place in the search for causation – as the billions spent on data-mining by Big Pharma indicates. Or did you conveniently overlook those figures? The act of getting a snapshot or factoid from Google does not equal analysis, synthesis, and judgement. However, It would be a pretty good qualification for students thinking that going deeply into debt ends with the world owing them high-paying jobs.
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Very tough situation,
I work in a school district that deploys 13,000+ laptops each year to students. 4th-11th grade students are guaranteed a laptop to use during the school year and I have had issues with students using them during class for inappropriate things; chatting, unauthorized web browsing, etc. They worst part is that these laptops are imaged, controlled, and maintained by the school district. As far as this situation goes, I think it is discipline that has the greatest impact of all. Even as our teachers play laptop cop, students, at the age of 10 learn about tab hopping and such tricks to fool our teachers. Beneficial in some ways and very distracting in many ways as well. Technology is the present and the future, there needs to be more awareness of the responsibility that goes along with this great power.
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As I’ve said before, I’m inclined to treat my students as adults. Much different if they actually aren’t adults.
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Very true. But one day these students (generation) will be your students. It will be interesting to see how these students use technology after 10 years of experience.
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Indeed. I’m impressed with these students’ use of their laptops and with their engagement in class, but haven’t asked them whether they used laptops or other devices in high school or earlier.
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Thank you for your feedback.
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Reblogged this on harriet2576 and commented:
Laptops and smartphones should be used in class when and where needed. Some students are easily distracted whether the electronic devices are available or not! Heck, one can still write notes and use a laptop to do a quick research on a subject the professor is talking about in the same lesson. Definitely a good read.
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I’ve been in a so called “laptop class” for 4 years – we did basically everything with them.
after the first year, about a third of the class had to repeat this year. but after that first “outsourcing” it became clear to everyone, that using laptops in class can be an advantage but only if you know your own limits
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As a student, I appreciate being able to have a laptop if I wish. I generally take notes by hand, but for some classes a laptop works better. I have often found that I can take more complete notes if I can have the powerpoint (if you use one) up while taking notes. This way I can get copied down information from the slides at my pace and still be able to add what your saying.
I think that at this time computers are available and we should use them. I wish classes could offer an electronic interface where I could post questions and at the end of class have them answered. Sometimes there isn’t time to ask and I won’t remember to send an email later. I think it would be bettering professors could find good ways to integrate the use of laptops into their classes better.
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[…] Thanks to Blogging 101’s Assignment #3, I was on wordpress.com, reading about the use of laptops in classrooms, the overuse of words in conversation, and the restful afternoon of a cancer patient. And I […]
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Reblogged this on Halina's Thoughts and commented:
Clay has explained in a blog post why he bans computers from his classroom. Jay chimed in his agreement:
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This is actually something I’ve been thinking about lately. I’m a student, and I’m enrolled in a class where the teachers require us to bring our laptops or tablets (the class is made up of students from the scholars program, which gives us free laptops as part of the scholarship). I was a little put off by it at first, because I thought it would be too many distractions, but it’s proved to be a wonderful tool to engage the classroom. We’re able to get more out of class discussions by having a forum so everyone can participate and we can take surveys in-class (for example, we took one today that determined how closely you identify with “millennials” and were able to see the results of everyone). If someone mentions any kind of historical or current issue, there are immediately five different students with websites pulled up on it.
And of course, there are always people on Facebook or playing video games, but they still seem to be able to participate in the discussion. I think it often depends on the student-their maturity level and how good they are at multitasking. Most of the students in the scholars program are capable in this area. On the other hand, bringing laptops into my history I class–where many students don’t do the reading and come in late–would probably be a very bad idea. It seems to me that it’s just a new element that can either become a nuisance or a teaching tool, depending one how one handles it.
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[…] post about my students’ use of laptop computers in class was linked from Freshly Pressed and drew readers who don’t normally visit my blog. It was […]
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lol i must be very boring because i have never looked at other things while on my laptop in class… and most of the time i use my laptop because i dont want to print out mass amounts of lecture slides and content. but that’s just me 🙂 also nowadays i find it much better to study notes ive typed seeing as how my handwriting is now abysmal after my first 3 and a half years of writing at university. thanks for the post!
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Reblogged this on Bama Boilermaker and commented:
I think this blog speaks well to the topic for this upcoming week, Attention and Distraction.
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[…] and see how well I’ve been following it myself. I added to the series with an explanation of why I let my students use laptops during class (nearly 1,000 views). I also posted the teaching philosophy (barely 400 views) I had to submit […]
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[…] are expected to be fully engaged in class. As I explained in a 2014 blog post, I allow students to have their laptops open during class to take notes, look up information that will help them contribute to class, etc. You […]
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[…] September 18, 2014, Daddy read the freshly pressed blog about teaching by Steve […]
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