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Vox Populi led us to this report in the Hatchet about one professor's desire to crackdown on the use of laptops in classes at George Washington University. On the one hand, it might not be a bad idea to dissuade students from using "Facebook, video-chatting and instant messaging" during lectures -- how exactly does one video chat during a lecture without being disruptive? -- but on the other, the professor instituting the ban is teaching in the School of Media and Public Affairs; this kind of networking behavior might end up coming in handy for students in that field. After all, if students at GW are looking to gain entry-level employment at any number of D.C. workplaces, Facebook, video-chatting, and instant messaging sounds like a lot of what they'll be doing upon graduation anyway. At least between the filing.
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Two areas in which multi-taking has disastrous results: driving and learning. Why bother even showing up for class if you're only giving it minimal attention?
Duh-uh! You're paying someone else to take your exams for you! It's not like you have to pay attention anyway to the prof....OH LOOK! A PENNY!
well lots of professors have attendance policies -- and are more likely to give a good grade to a person that is present than someone they don't know.
and as a GW graduate, I'll tell you that my classmates were not interested in a quality education. They're interested in the piece of paper they get that opens doors. They want to be minimally bothered by actual learning. I can't tell you how many times I heard classmates try to talk a professor out of giving a test, or to use a curve, or to dilute their requirements. It's absolutely sickening.
While I was there I did use my laptop, and it was very helpful as I can type faster than I can write -- but I think I was an exception -- I actually wanted an education.
The ranch wants their high horse back. You would do well to give it back. Your vigorous attitude towards education is admirable, but don't paint yourself to be any belle of the ball unless you understood the situation of each and every other person in the class that you cite.
I know that, like myself, many students in a given class had jobs/internships/played sports, etc. Extracurricular student orgs don't count, as their impact on classroom performance is hardly at parity with work or sports. They also don't count as they don't offer the financial assistance the above mentioned do. Whether you did have a job or not isn't up for discussion because you failed to mention it while self-aggrandizing yourself against those who wanted a bone thrown at them for the rare time they're given one by the professor.
Besides, I'm not even sure which classes you've been apart of where the professor was so cavalier as to his or her syllabus, or lack thereof. Maybe it was Spanish 1..
This issue is simple: if you are a professor and your students aren't paying attention, and are Facebooking instead, it means you probably aren't doing a good job. Make the class harder, demand more from your students, call on people, etc. I'm a student, and I surf when I'm having my time wasted by some douche who's repeating what was in the text, or telling off-topic self important stories.
If a student is failing because they aren't paying attention in class when they need to be, they sure seem to being penalized... they'll learn.
If a student isn't paying attention in class and is still getting decent grades in class: A) Who cares? and B) Fire the Professor.
A fine argument for the belief that education is wasted on the young (not to mention raising admission standards). When did college become a right rather than a privilege?
Definitely wasted on the young.
Two thoughts for you, aaronw79:
Who said college is a right? I surely didn't. Yes, higher admissions standards are a big part of fixing higher ed. My professors wouldn't have to work so slowly and simply if my classmates were qualified to go to college, could learn at a decent pace, and could read for comprehension.
That's not my problem though. Professors should move faster, focus on the task at hand and teach harder material... and probably at the end of the day fail a good portion of my classmates. Until the lecture contains new learning for me, my interest will be low.
And in direct response:
A: I sure would love to get something out of the education that I'm paying so much for... but it looks like I'm going to have to wait for graduate school for that. Outside of my foreign language class, I haven't learned a whole heck of a lot in a classroom. Out of the textbooks? Sure, though I wasn't exactly tested/rewarded on most of it. But the Powerpoint the professor is reading? Not likely. And no, I'm not going to "engage" the professor most of the time... getting them to go into more detail on a topic would only get them out of their little groove, and is more likely to get me penalized for disrupting their teaching... not to mention the eternal flaming hatred of my classmates.
B. And sure, I'd rather get the best professors... but A) Those classes do tend to fill up fast, B) There aren't many good ones for the required/gen-ed courses, C) I've got a life, and scheduling concerns occur frequently, D) Even the best professor is probably going to be an absolute bore when teaching a bunch of undergraduates at the speed necessary to keep them from all failing.
perhaps they're taking notes?
I write by hand rarely so more that I can barely read my handwriting. Word processing is faster, more efficient, easier to save and organize.
Wow, it's a slow news day in the blogosphere (as they normally are on the weekends) when you're taking cues from one college blog that has an inherent bias on another school and trolls their news publications to poke fun.
Onward to the post itself...
I went to GW. Nobody video chats. How distracting is that for the person behind the video chatting person? *mimics 'Hi, Mom!' wave*
Regardless, taking notes on a laptop doesn't really require the internet. Many classrooms on campus still remain without so much as a hint of a wireless signal. Keep it that way and your problem is solved. Until GW can rake in more stellar faculty, this discussed policy is a fail-safe to prevent any further slide in teaching quality.
Vox Populi... pfft.. Everytime they make mention of how great it is not to go to GW or about thanking the heavens they didn't have to go GW, they just link back to the same one post they wrote about the school's student body president, likening him to Nixon for various reasons. And I thought taking cues from City Desk was bad. I can't expect as much from weekend DCist as I can from weekday DCist
Well I go to GW and people do post videos on face book. It's not so much "chatting" but more of just making silly faces and what not.
And this perfectly acceptable if you are in a 200 person biology class and the teacher is literally reading word for word out of the book. The only reason you come to class is at the beginning and end for announcements and to catch up with your lab partners so you can find a time to write up the lab report together. This holds true for most "101" science classes. I'm sure that in English classes, people are more engaged with the material as well as classes with a better student-teacher ratio.
I'm old skool. I take notes on my etch-a-sketch. I draw the professor with sharp edges. The drawback to the etch-a-sketch is that it has no memory. The plus is that it doesn't use batteries.
Haha funny you should mention because I was at a USAID training last week. Pretty young crowd (20s-30s), but obviously no undergrads or anything. Each breakout table was supplied with Etch-A-Sketches, Playdo (sp?), Legos, Rubick's Cubes, etc.
Holymarymotherofgod...we've segued from the Age of Entitlement to the Age of Infantilization. What's next? Nuks with lunch and babywipes in the bathroom stalls?
I weep.
I'm a career-changing (older) grad. student at GW. I use my laptop so I can refer to readings I didn't print. My classmates are younger but pretty serious. The laptop users are definitely taking notes or running the occasional quick Google at the professor's request.
I went to undergrad when the laptop was a 20 lb brick that nobody brought to class because the resulting back problems would have plagued them for the rest of their lives. How did we survive? Learned to write quickly (or in shorthand) and use tape recorders where they were allowed.
I went for my master's at GW a few years ago, and felt like the only person that wasn't using a laptop to take notes. I'm not sure whether the students who used a laptop retained anymore information than I did, but from the occasional glance at a screen, most were drawn to distraction. For me, writing it down always led to a good connection between what was being said and my brain.
Now, get off my lawn...
When I went to GW as a grad student, odds were good that those on their laptop were g-chatting or watching Grey's Anatomy... and you wonder why my own school at GW won't even call me for an interview...