An administrator at Lehigh discusses laptops in class.
“It all depends on what the teacher is trying to accomplish,” [Greg] Reihman said. “Some faculty members want increased attention in front of the room so if the presence of laptops becomes a distraction, I understand the banning of them.”
February 21st, 2011 at 1:50PM
Not all learning has to be teacher-centered. For those of us who practice student-centered learning (especially in Foreign Language teaching), decreased attention in front of the room is, indeed, a crucial goal.
February 21st, 2011 at 2:40PM
You’ll have to clarify that for me, Clarissa. Foreign language instruction, more than many other forms, seems to me profoundly about the teacher. Students must watch the teacher at the front of the room with great intensity, and must verbally interact with her – and their fellow students – throughout the hour.
If you’re talking about sticking students in front of computers with foreign language software on them, then certainly they shouldn’t be looking at the front of the room. No need for a human teacher at all. Same deal if you break them up into groups, have them try to talk to each other in the language, and occasionally, as their instructor, drift by and see how things are going. This isn’t really a language teacher at all. An assistant, rather.
If you’re talking about a class in which the teacher is sort of a master or mistress of ceremonies, welcoming the students to the computer room and hanging around if needed, then, again, you’re not really talking about a teacher.
Teachers who know and love languages, and whose classes are intense and fully human engagements in that language, are what students deserve. Laptops are especially deadly in the language classroom.