These “computers in education” posts almost merit their own category.
Professors Vie With Web for Class’s Attention
“When you see 25 percent of the screens playing solitaire, besides its being distracting, you feel like a sucker for paying attention,” Professor Ayres said.
Unless law students are fully engaged in the class, he said, they miss out on the give and take of ideas in class discussion and do not develop the critical thinking skills that emerge from “deeply tearing apart a case.”
[ . . . . ]
Professor Ayres tried to prohibit all Internet use in his classroom. The students “went ballistic,” he said, and insisted that their multitasking ways made them more productive and even more alert in class.
So let them go ballistic. They pay their fees for an education, not to be permitted to waste people’s time.
It would be interesting to see the relationship between in-class surfing and grades.
Not everyone has caught the bug, apparently.
Joseph Sun, a first year M.B.A. student in Professor Mallek’s class, takes notes with pen and paper. He owns a laptop but does not take it to class. Although it “comes in handy to look up an article or quote during discussion,” Mr. Sun said, he has to resist “the temptation to surf the Net during lectures.”
Students say they are finding a balance in the classroom between the good uses of online technology and its temptations. Tetse Ukueberuwa, a major in environmental studies at Dartmouth, said, “Over all, it’s a great thing,” being able to check e-mail messages and conduct online research anywhere on her campus.
Ms. Ukueberuwa said she preferred to take notes by hand, however, saying: “I feel I’m more in touch with what the teacher is saying. You’re looking at the teacher instead of looking at your computer.”
As a junior, though, she realizes that she may be “old-fashioned.” Every incoming class, she said, seems “more technologically advanced” than the last.