Students texting on smart phones or using their laptops and tablets to check Facebook has become seemingly ubiquitous in the college classroom.
But so has use of these technologies to look up more information to fuel a debate or research material for a writing assignment.
And while one student is clicking another may be distracted from the lecture or discussion of the moment.
What is an instructor to do?
Ban the technology outright?
Set strict rules about its use?
Throw up the hands and say it’s up to the students?
My colleague at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dr. John Angelis teaches in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business and he decided to ban technology in the classroom altogether.
This led to some heated debate and a Twitter hashtag campaign by students.
Reflecting on his decision John has written a thoughtful post about what to do next.
You can read it here: Technology in the Classroom: Blessing or Bane?
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Thanks for a a really interesting post.
ReplyDeleteSo, I was aware that the use of technology within the classroom had grown, but is the real reason for banning the use of toys in lectures really that other students might get distracted?
In my experience, it is more likely that lecturers don't like having the Internet competing for the attention of their audience.