… banning laptops. I link to it only because I link to all of these things.
Oh, wait. There is one wonderful moment in it. A comment from a student explaining one instance of laptop use:
I went through a history class that was just every single day death by PowerPoint. And it just, it was awful.
It’s technology v. technology: An asshole in front of the room is too lazy to teach and students are too afraid or indifferent to protest. So students find their own defensive technology in response to the situation.
The result is what UD has called the Morgue Classroom, or TPD: Total Pedagogical Death.
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By the way, some American university students have formally protested excessive or inept faculty PowerPoint use at a number of campuses.
April 25th, 2010 at 6:01AM
SOS: It’s really confusing to have a parenthetical at the end of a sentence that entirely contradicts the rest of the sentence.
April 25th, 2010 at 6:56AM
Right you are, Jonathan. Thanks. I’ve corrected it.
April 25th, 2010 at 8:35AM
Great point about tech vs tech. Thankfully, I don’t teach huge lecture classes, so I try to walk around the room to police laptop usage, something I never thought would be necessary even five years ago. But when I tell a student to close hers, she inevitably gives me the most pathetic look. Why can’t I shop for summer blouses in class, she seems to be thinking. I’d love a laptop ban at my school. I’m tired of sacrificing teaching time to being the bad cop.
April 26th, 2010 at 8:37AM
[…] this comparison: UD had a very good post yesterday which included a reference to “Death by PowerPoint,” a favorite topic of hers […]