Christine Smallwood, PhD student, Columbia University, gets it said. It’s in today’s New York Times.
When you leave your room for class, leave the laptop behind. In a lecture, you’ll only waste your time and your parents’ money, disrespect your professor and annoy whomever is trying to pay attention around you by spending the whole hour on Facebook.
You don’t need a computer to take notes — good note-taking is not transcribing. All that clack, clack, clacking … you’re a student, not a court reporter. And in seminar or discussion sections, get used to being around a table with a dozen other humans, a few books and your ideas. After all, you have the rest of your life to hide behind a screen during meetings.
Oh, and entire online classes! Quelle joie.
September 26th, 2010 at 9:01AM
I’ve been a professor for over 30 years (yawwwnnnn) and I’m somewhat ambivalent on the issue of laptops in the classroom. When my colleagues and I first saw the excited typing during our class we thought the students were following our material. Then we realized they were excitingly ordering shoes and who-knows-what-else from Amazon and other on-line retailers. I am teaching a Political Campaigning course this semester and overall prefer that students do bring their laptops to class. The students can access their course readings (posted as PDFs) and occasionally research information on the web. When I get a look at their screens I usually see notes from the class. I’m not a total rube and know the students are expert at shifting from one screen to another. Hopefully when not taking notes or reading class assigned PDFs, they are posting messages on Facebook telling their friends important information about politics and campaign 2010. File under “hope springs eternal”.
September 26th, 2010 at 11:56AM
Tobe: Your responses to laptops track the unfolding history of the phenomenon closely.
You were part of the initial How gratifying that they’re typing my thoughts so enthusiastically. stage; you are now part of the Hope springs eternal. stage. If you remain in the classroom long enough, you will almost certainly be part of the Shut your fucking laptops. stage.
September 26th, 2010 at 12:57PM
Some of us find hand writing very painful. I spent years as a student producing notes in pen or pencil which I coudn’t read. Oh the relief of switching to a lap top.
What Christina describes as the *type* of notes is a different issue entirely: I reckon I wasted all my first year transcribing instead of actually thinking and taking notes. As a lecturer I now avoid “lecturing” to first years because I think they need to learn how to listen first and from there learn what to take down, but this is a pedagogic issue and nothing to do with the tools.
With regard to the noise: yes, it’s a pain, but keyboards are getting softer and with the invention of the ipad it isn’t an issue.
For the rest: I had friends who read novels under the desk, I never did know why they bothered coming to lectures.
September 26th, 2010 at 1:14PM
While Christina is working toward her Ph.D., I suggest she review the correct uses of whoever and whomever. ‘Whoever’ is the pronoun she should have used in the following paragraph.
‘In a lecture, you’ll only waste your time and your parents’ money, disrespect your professor and annoy whomever is trying to pay attention around you by spending the whole hour on Facebook.’
September 26th, 2010 at 1:34PM
Daphne: I didn’t notice that. Thanks.
September 26th, 2010 at 2:51PM
I appreciate your kind response, Margaret.