From the Toronto Sun:
… “You can’t write a good essay if you’re also texting your friends and checking your Facebook page,” [said University of Western Ontario sociology professor Doug Mann].
Because many students now bring laptops to class to take notes, websites such as Facebook and Twitter offer a tempting escape from lectures.
Mann said many students come to class, sit near the back and zone out, rarely taking part at all.
Nicole Segal agrees. Heading into her first year at the University of Western Ontario next week, she took a first-year psychology course in Gr. 12 through WISE — Western’s Initiative for Scholarly Excellence — to better prepare for university.
She said watching people check sites such as Facebook distracted her from what the professor was saying, and made her want to do the same.
“If you see people in front of you checking it, you’re like ‘Oh, I’m going to check mine, too’,” she said. “Then you’ll get even more distracted and say ‘Oh, what did i just miss?'” …
September 1st, 2010 at 10:56AM
Year 2 of my laptop-cellphone ban is about to commence. I’m worried that it won’t be as rebellion-free as last year, but Segal’s recognition of the problem gives me hope.
September 1st, 2010 at 3:19PM
I went to college before laptops. I have a hard time understanding why they are in classrooms at all. Rumor has it that a pen works fine for taking notes, and if you want them on your laptop you could always transcribe them later, thus boosting your retention. Win-win, I say.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:25PM
Jack, this is the fourth year of my ban, and I am getting zero crap about it, because a majority of the faculty here now have similar policies. The students now see electronics bans during class as the norm. Most of them will freely admit that they can’t control themselves otherwise.