There’s the Ryerson guys; and now
Laurence Thomas, a popular [Syracuse University] philosophy professor whose courses have waiting lists, walked out on his class of nearly 400 students last week when he caught a couple of students fiddling with their phones instead of paying attention to him.
It wasn’t the first time Thomas has cut a class short because a student broke his no-texting rule. To Thomas, texting saps the class of its intellectual energy.
November 26th, 2010 at 2:46PM
“Intellectual energy” in a 400 person lecture? May as well dim the house lights..
November 26th, 2010 at 3:26PM
Texting in my class? Do you really want to go there?…
When I read articles like the one Margaret Soltan linked to about texting in class, I can’t help but be thankful that I once took—and took to heart what I learned in—a course on feminist pedagogy. I’m not going to address whether I consider circling …
November 26th, 2010 at 3:33PM
I text in the classes that I’m teaching (when the students are busy doing group assignments or writing tests), so I don’t mind when students do the same. And I don’t see why any professor would. If the students aren’t interested in what I’m trying to teach them, it’s their problem, not mine.
November 26th, 2010 at 4:45PM
Clarissa,
Talk about living up to your social obligation of engagement. Your narcissistic attitude suggests to me that you still lack the discipline to be anything but a student yourself. But hey, who gives a f#&@ about doing all we can to reach an undisciplined student, someone we hardly talked to ten years ago just sent us a friend twist…just can’t wait another minute to accept!!
November 26th, 2010 at 4:47PM
Request not twist, damn swype messing up my angry rants.
November 27th, 2010 at 12:26AM
Prof. Thomas made Inside Higher Ed two years ago for walking out: If You Text in Class, This Prof Will Leave.
December 2nd, 2010 at 2:09PM
[…] I read articles like the one Margaret Soltan linked to about texting in class, I can’t help but be thankful that I once took—and took to heart […]