A professor at Cal State Fullerton explains his no-laptop policy. You learn when you focus your mind. Pretty obvious.
This professor also complains about… professors.
I’ve been in meetings and watched professors do other things on their laptop, and it is distracting to me. Students are not the only ones who do it.
It’s so rude. You might at least expect professors to know better.
April 8th, 2011 at 7:08AM
I remember one of my more senior colleagues posting his Facebook status during a workshop he was running, “[Senior colleague] thinks [Other senior colleague] should pay attention to the talks and get off [Facebook].” I didn’t see this until 5 hours later. Of course, Other senior colleague “liked” this.
April 8th, 2011 at 8:41AM
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/alive-enough/
April 8th, 2011 at 8:52AM
I’ve seen the laptop stuff happen at conferences. It’s very, very distracting to sit behind someone who’s noodling around on the internet, EVEN IF it’s a fascinating talk you want to hear.
And also, I think it’s disrespectful to the speaker. If you don’t want to hear the talk in that session, go out into the hall and leave a seat open for someone who wants to.
I do not permit laptops in my class unless the student has a demonstrated disability. (I had a student with a motor skills issue, for whom typing was faster and more accurate than writing…but when they used the laptop, it was open to a word-processing program and they were typing notes.)
April 9th, 2011 at 7:33AM
The absolute worst offenders? No, not sorority girls.
Administrators. Gilligan pays for the shiniest new toys for the administrative class. They play with them endlessly during meetings. Members of enemy administrative duchies and marquisates ostentatiously stop paying attention and start texting when someone from the other side starts to talk.