Posted on 05/03/2006 12:32:44 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
As the professor lectured on the law, the student wore a poker face. But that was probably because, under the guise of taking notes on his laptop, the student actually was playing poker — online, using the school's wireless Internet connection. The scenario is not uncommon in today's college classrooms, and some instructors want it stopped. So they have done the unthinkable — banned laptops.
The move caused an uproar at the University of Memphis, where law professor June Entman nixed the computers in March because she felt they were turning her students into stenographers and inhibiting classroom debate.
Students rebelled by filing a complaint with the American Bar Association, although the organization dismissed it.
At the University of Pennsylvania, law professor Charles Mooney banned laptops from his classes two years ago for similar reasons.
Around that time, said Mooney, he was serving as an expert witness in a lawsuit. During a break in his deposition, he recalled asking the stenographer if she found the case interesting. She replied that she didn't remember anything she had taken down, Mooney said.
"I thought, 'That's what my students are doing,'" he said.
The ban led to "a lot of grumbling," Mooney said. Some students even dropped the class.
But as an experiment, the professor permitted laptops this past year to compare the difference in students' performance. His conclusion: Don't allow laptops.
Penn law student Karen Yeh, 23, said a laptop prohibition in one of her classes this past year was unnecessary. The embarrassing possibility of being unable to answer a question posed by the professor was reason enough for students to pay attention.
"Nobody would've been surfing the Net," Yeh said. "You're just too scared to get called on."
But some students said online distractions are really no different from pre-laptop days, when they might do a crossword puzzle in class.
Ryan McKenzie, a third-year Penn law student, said so much of students' knowledge is gleaned outside the classroom that in-class distractions don't detract from learning.
"The class is only a small part of the whole experience," said McKenzie, 29. "It's much more independent study."
Paul Engelking, a chemistry professor at the University of Oregon, said he was disturbed to find students gambling online while they were purportedly working on an in-class assignment.
Yet even students who are diligently taking notes with their laptops are missing out on social interaction and jokes the teachers make, he said.
"There isn't even eye contact going on in the classroom," said Engelking.
One remedy instructors have, he said, is to establish penalties for Web surfing, codify them in a course syllabus, and then enforce them.
But even that leaves a lot to be desired, Engelking said.
"I'm not completely thrilled about being a policeman in my own lecture hall," he said. "I've got enough things to do."
I forsee education going completely virtual, or the information downloaded to your brain ala The Matrix.
Next, these academic martinets will try to ban daydreaming and note-passing.
I did damn well in freshman physics with a NYT crossword on my desk most days.
During a break in his deposition, he recalled asking the stenographer if she found the case interesting. She replied that she didn't remember anything she had taken down, Mooney said."I thought, 'That's what my students are doing,'" he said.
If she thought about the cases she was transcibing, she'd probably have an ambition to actually practice law.
It's a J-O-B. Do the work and forget about it.
Can you imagine cluttering your mind with 5 years of court transcripts???
Students transcribe notes with the intent to review them later and recall the information at even a later date.
I can totally understand her position on this. I have to tell clients all the time the steps to completing complex database tasks on their computers. I can tell over the phone the ones who are simply trying to write down everything I said, because they aren't listening to me.
Many's the time after a pregnant pause I've said "so, is it working?", only to be met with "I'm not sure, I was writing down what you said. What should I do now?"
In one class, I showed a photo of a cloud and mentioned how I wished I had a better example of the phenomenon.
One student, after a minute of googling, came up with a beautiful photo.
I don't mind laptops. It's the f******g cell phones in class that drive me nuts.
Its headed that way and I LIKE online classes
I don't have to deal with lectures from teachers who are members of the ACLU or dimwit liberal classmates
There have been problems with tests being stolen and sold at various schools using new electronics, so professors don't allow anything on the desks except for a pen, the test and paper.
Laptops could illegally record the class which some paid $4,000 for.
It does also distract from participation.
The gambling in class is outrageous.
"The class is only a small part of the whole experience," said McKenzie, 29. "It's much more independent study."
An excellent point. Even having formal legal education is a fairly new phenomenon. It wasn't that long ago (in historical terms) that one learned law as a lawyer's apprentice.
The mandatory 3-year law curriculum is just a way for the ABA and law schools to line their pockets.
I have horrible, slow handwriting. I think I would have done better in college if I could have used a laptop.
My kids are all very adept at using the computer (9&11), and I'm sure they'll be taking them to school soon.
One of them is special needs and I know a laptop will help her. She can record the class with a laptop, and in a few years she should be able to type faster than she can write.
I remember that from a freshman chemistry class I had to take in my senior year because of a change in graduation requirements. I had already taken the 2nd quarter semiconductor physics class they dropped to make room for chemistry, but I had to go back and take the chemistry anyway. Zzzzz!
Yet even students who are diligently taking notes with their laptops are missing out on social interaction and jokes the teachers make, he said.
The classes I seemed to get the most from were those which the professor either put his class notes in the library or handed them out. (now they would be on the internet for printing). That way I didn't have to spend 80% of the time scribbling down whatever he wrote instead of digesting what he was teaching.
One remedy instructors have, he said, is to establish penalties for Web surfing, codify them in a course syllabus, and then enforce them.
Seems like they are forgetting the employer/employee relationship. The student is hiring the professor to teach. So long as the student is not disturbing other students or cheating, let them do what they want. If they aren't paying attention, their grade will show it.
One thing has always fascinated me. When you look at megachurch services on TV, you always see people furiously taking notes. It's like a new phenomena. I always wonder "Why aren't they paying attention to the sermon?".
Same thing happened here at work. No more laptops in meetings unless you are using it for presentation.
Darn.
Cell phones have a special place in my syllabus. I hear one ring, and the offender is counted absent.
My husband teaches and accepts just about whatever students bring into the class--as long as they aren't cheating. He feels they pay enough tuition that they should have the privilege of learning however they want. And he's very aware of the fact that they pay his salary. And you're right, he finds that students are creative and teach him in all kinds of ways. He's also found a creative way to restrict cell usage. He doesn't ban them, but he begins to dance when one goes off. It embarrasses them enough that they usually try to keep it on vibrate and not distract other students--and certainly not the professor!
Just get yourself a PDA or a PDA phone.
IMO, education is at an "event horizon" in that a paradigm shift is about to occur...and education as we once knew it is perched on the lip of a black hole.
The professor in this article is part of the resistance force (read Luddites). He'll been gone in a flash.
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