Laptops in the classroom: useful or a distraction?
On March 16, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article entitled, "Students stop surfing after being shown how in-class laptop use lowers test scores." In the article, an associate professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder found that the students surfing the Net during class scored 11% worse, on average, than their peers.
A June 13, 2008 article, found quite the opposite. A survey of 29,000 students at 85 law schools found that Web access can enrich classroom discussion.
I've found that when I set boundaries for laptop use, and channel the use toward topics relevant for a given class session, both the students with laptops and the students without laptops benefit from a richer class discussion.
What do you think? What have your experiences been?
A June 13, 2008 article, found quite the opposite. A survey of 29,000 students at 85 law schools found that Web access can enrich classroom discussion.
I've found that when I set boundaries for laptop use, and channel the use toward topics relevant for a given class session, both the students with laptops and the students without laptops benefit from a richer class discussion.
What do you think? What have your experiences been?
posted by Gayle Stein at
11:16 AM
7 Comments:
I have a problem with studies that are run solely to satisfy a preexisting hypothesis. As the Chronicle explains, the professor sought to 'educate students about the negative effect' of meaningless laptop use in the classroom. That's on par with educating new drivers about drunk driving in order to keep them driving altogether!
Instead of this approach, educators need to realize that the 'playing field' has changed. We can't stigmatize technology in the classroom nor should we embrace it as a comprehensive solution to today's educational needs. I believe guided use is the best approach.
I am a student who's been surfing the internet while in lecture. I hadn't started taking my laptop to class, as the old laptop I owned had battery issues. I have to admit that since the switch from writing to typing, I've been more distracted.
When I used to handwrite notes I would have to pore over lecture recordings or compare notes with friends. I would end up bogged down with transcribing, and it was all a waste of time. Sometimes note-taking is just impossible without a laptop.
My advice to teachers... if there's a handout available for your lecture, don't just teach with what's on the handout. Just use the handout as a guide for students to fill in notes! It is much more interesting, and helps all students - laptop or not - to pay attention! Also, professors need to be realistic with their time. Don't talk so fast and speed through the handout, and maybe students would switch back to hand-writing notes.
I have a disability which requires me to use a laptop in the classroom. I would not say it is a distraction from the lectures as I use it to keep up with them. The professors in the Chronicle article are talking about trivial uses, i.e. the high tech version of doodling on a piece of paper. Obviously, if students pay more attention to the lecture their test scores improve.
As a student, I find having a laptop in class to be nearly essential. I don't have the best organizational skills when it comes to class work, and if I couldn't save all of my class notes in one place, I doubt I'd be able to find them (let alone easily search through them) when exams come around.
That being said, I also feel the need to put forth a controversial point - there are a number of classes I've been in that are, frankly, not very interesting. Many times the though of getting some work done on my laptop in the back of the room is the only thing that convinced me to attend a given day's lecture at all. If the choice is between sitting in class and working on assignments for another class, or not going to class... I'd venture a guess that the laptop is a good thing.
Two points; one, transcribing and sorting thru hand written notes for me is not only NOT a waste of time but the process itself forces me to learn the material sufficiently to restate it accurately into study notes. And two, there seems to be no consideration on the part of in-class websurfers for the fellow student suffering through the distraction of what is essentially a video screen situated between me and the instructer. There have been occasions when I have had several screens with games, videos etc in my sight line during class. I think it is horribly rude.
I think computers where students have free roam to do whatever they want can be a hinderance to the learning process. But at the same time they can be a huge help. It just depends on how they are used. Students can take notes, look up information, and much more to help them learn. But at the same time they can play solitare, go on facebook, and instant message friends. It just depends on how they are used. If the professor encouraged the use of computers and gave her presentations to students, and involved instant messaging to get students in a dialogue then the laptops would be a big help. But if a professor bores the students to death, laptops are just used as a modern day doodle pad.
That totaly depends on the teacher, students and classroom environment. If they are randomly surfing the NET during a lesson then of course they aren't concentrating, but if they are looking up something relavant to the class and nothing important is being discussed while they are searching BING then it will improve their concentration. It all depends on the situation.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home