David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, earlier last month, wrote an interesting article in the Washington Post regarding the use of laptops in the college classroom. This year, Cole banned his first-year students from using their laptops in the classroom for two reasons: 1) Note taking on a laptop encourages word-for-word transcription of the lecture. This practice, Cole writes, causes the student to go into “stenographic mode” and they “no longer [process] information in a way that is conducive to the give and take of classroom discussion;” 2) The temptation to tap into the immediately accessible Internet and other features of their laptop can keep students from being fully engaged in class. But can’t students multitask? Cole writes, “As for multitasking, I don’t buy it. Attention diverted is attention diverted.”
I have never been a laptop note-taker—I prefer the old-fashioned Bic and Mead combination—so my thoughts about this topic may already be biased. But I have to agree with Cole, as far as his argument goes. Laptops do, for the most part, probably tend to cause students to substitute the multiplication of words with real learning and tempt them to bring up You-Tube when the lecture runs a little dry. However, in regards to this last problem, I have to say (and I am surprised Cole didn’t make a bigger issue out of this than he did), messing with one’s laptop with anything that takes away from full engagement in the classroom is just plain rude. What happened to good, old-fashioned courtesy for the professor who has spent time preparing for the class and who is not interested in merely educating the surrounding walls. I am amazed that students can play video games and talk on Instant-Messenger in good conscience while a professor is teaching.
Alright. Enough. Check out Cole’s article. I would like to hear your thoughts on this subject. Feel free to drop some comments—just not during class!
(HT: Rebelution)
Filed under: Technology
