The sea of flickering screens and glowing apples in lecture halls post figurative neon signs on every student’s forehead that read: “I’m not listening.”
The lack of attention is visible to my professors, and the upset looks on their faces show they understand they’ve lost student focus in favor of the freshest news on Beyoncé’s bundle of joy or a stream of photos from last weekend’s shenanigans.
But I want to focus on class, and I don’t quite understand why I am the only one who feels this way.
Laptops act as harmful distractions to both their users and those around them, during the otherwise simple task of listening during class.
A 2003 study conducted at Stanford University found that those who had laptops open in lectures took in significantly less material than those taking notes by hand. The clickety clack of the keyboard takes away from in-class material when boredom or curiosity lure us into our e-mail inboxes, or, a professor’s worst nightmare – Facebook.
In a 2006 study, Carrie B. Fried of Winona State University found that laptop usage represents 64 percent of all distractions. That means that all those conventional classroom distractions hardly account for even half of the real interruptions.
A huge majority – 81 percent – of students with open laptops in Fried’s study checked their e-mail accounts at least once during lectures.
It’s a sad world we live in when we can’t sit in a class for an hour and 15 minutes without checking our e-mail multiple times. Will our e-mail not exist if we wait a little longer?
I commonly end up sitting in the front row, simply because I can’t handle all the clicking on surrounding keyboards.
I now understand why a horse wears blinders.
The generations before us had no trouble using pens to take notes, and in a classroom setting, neither should we. I understand the benefits that computers, and particularly the Internet, provide for students. But the ever-distracting laptop still has no place when students use computers more for surfing than notetaking.
It is time, in this case, to go back to basics. Our generation jumped into the information age too quickly, and now we must take the baby steps back to a place where balance between academia and technology can occur.
Alyssa Rosenthal, a sophomore majoring in political communication, is a Hatchet columnist.
Alyssa,
I very much understand your frustration with laptops in the classroom. However, I must vehemently disagree with the assertion that we can’t sit in a classroom for an hour and 15 minutes without checking e-mail.
As an alumnus of GW, both a BS and an MS, I spent considerable amounts of time in a classroom simply because my presence was a course requirement. In reality, I found much of this time to be wasted and thus enjoyed having a laptop with me to feel productive. Yes, I will readily admit checking e-mail or Facebook in a classroom, but should a dull PowerPoint taken directly from a text book honestly be expected to hold my attention for over an hour?
As an undergraduate student in the School of Public Health and Health Services I attended two separate classes with my favorite college professor. I can honestly say, this was the most productive classroom time I have ever experienced because this professor actually taught material, as opposed to casually scrolling through PowerPoint slides that I am more than capable of reading on my own.
My point is, I think that when professors revert to actually teaching, as opposed to using PowerPoint as a crutch, you might find the laptops voluntarily disappear or remain in a sleepy state at the bottom of a student’s North Face bag.
Ben.
Ben, I would just like to whole heartedly agree with everything written in your comment. In the business school, I felt as though the professors were more concerned with their other jobs and quickly pulled together powerpoint presentations that had been used over their tenure as professors. Maybe they updated a chart or two with the newer editions of the textbook, but other than that, these presentations were slides that I could easily read from the comfort of my own home had my presence not been mandatory. While I agree that checking facebook and email is not the most productive thing to do in class, it keeps students from falling asleep half the time. Alyssa, for you to live in some strange world where no one in our generation and generations to come bring their laptops is ridiculous. And as Ben said, if professors start to teach what they are supposed to and not read from a textbook, students won’t need the joys of facebook and beyonce to lighten their misery.
Alyssa,
You sound like a gray haired Luddite railing against the “newfangled gadgets, devices, contraptions and doodads” used by the “young people today”.
I am 15 years older than you, and only wish I had a laptop with WiFi to bring to class at GW with me when I attended. Today, having constant access to email and news through my computer and BlackBerry is something that enhances, not detracts from my personal and professional life.
Over the past few years, when I attended graduate school elsewhere and studied finance, having a laptop in class was a huge asset. I used it not just for taking notes (usually a Word outline), but also for bringing in charts, graphs and data to use in class, notes for class discussion, and the ability to do research on the fly. Granted, we are talking about more of a collaborative, professor guided 15-20 person discussion as opposed to a 1-way lecture, but still, I have no doubt that being “wired” enhanced my experience.
And think of the environmental and cost saving advantages of reducing your use of printing and paper. That alone is a case for maximizing portable computer or tablet use.
Those that play with Facebook or watch TMZ videos in class do it at their own peril, as long as they keep the sound off. I am however not promoting anything that makes noise beyond typing, which actually is inappropriate.
If students aren’t paying attention, there’s nothing you can do to make them. If you take away their laptops, they’ll check their phones, and if you take away their phones, then they’ll just sleep. People pay attention as much as they are ever going to, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.
I think ya’ll are missing the argument made by the author. She is claiming that laptops are not just distracting the user, but those around them. She is equating this to talking in class. When a large Image pop’s up on the screen you can’t help but look over, or when people huddle around the screen to see the newest picture of the party last week. If you’re bored deal with it. Generations prior have, and if you cant control your clicking, or laughing at the images on the chive, then you are being a distribution to the class.
Thomas: Nice typing. Partying normally doesn’t start until 8 PM on Thursday night. But hey, you got a head start, evidently.
Now to the issue. If you can’t control yourself in class while someone else is using a computer, that is your problem. It’s called self-discipline. Look into it.