laptops in college

As early as 2007, universities across the country were noticing more laptop users in college classrooms. Its reception into the education setting was mixed. Many professors commented to organizations like NPR about how distracting it is to try to teach a class while students were doing something other than taking notes. Some like, David Cole, full out banned using it in classrooms. Laptops are being used more during class and it would appear in general the feelings about using them are still as scattered as they were 4 years ago.  Both students and professors are still all over the place in terms of what to do about the problem and how they feel.

Students use laptops in class because they are a good way to take notes. Except as the user found out, there were quite a few distractions on the laptop that made note taking a mundane task. For this reason, some professors believe banning laptops are the way to go. Jeremy Littau, an assistant professor of journalism and communication at Lehigh, banned laptop use except for extreme situations because he found many students either distracted by the laptop or distracted by the computer screen around them.

Some professors have difficulty dealing with the technology and took extreme measure to make their feelings known. Two professors at Ryerson University in Toronto walked out on their class after repeatedly warning students to not use their laptops and cell phones in distracting ways. This walkout caused debate over whether it is acceptable for faculty to walk out on an unruly classroom.

The reaction was based on the students using the technology in a disrespectful way. Most students are still split in terms of whether to use a laptop in class. However, users and nonusers like Markita Underwood, and Lee Mallete feel any technology is going to be a distraction. Mallete, a student at University of Alabama believes:

"Some of my older teachers don’t like having that technology and assume you’re just on Facebook instead of taking notes,” Mallette said. “I think the majority of people are going to play on their phones if not their laptop and professors should just accept the new technology."

As the situation goes right now, most professors are adapting some sort of policy for laptop use in the classroom. The policies have been generated since professors first began spotting a problem with laptop use. Most of the policies I have seen here at NDSU are fairly reasonable once I got used to them.  I would like to hope in the future laptop use stays on campus and the problem stays either the same or goes down just as it has for the past 4 years.

iPads in Schools: Good or Bad?

The iPad has reached the education world and taken it by storm. One school after another has jumped on board with using the technology and most will swear it works to keep students interested and wanting to learn. But is this enough to teach students the fundamentals? I feel using devices like iPads is a step in the right direction, but should not be used until parents and teachers figure out how to balance learning with the growing problem of over consuming media. 

Technology can do amazing things to aid in the education process. As this video on youtube shows below, there are several ways students can use iPads to aid in reviewing vocabulary, writing and reading. The problem lies in the fact most of these students are using technology without realizing there are other issues involved such as how much more media they can handle.  A recent report by the Kaiser Foundation reveals most 8-18 year old use entertainment media an average of roughly 11 hours a day. The study goes on to say children with the heaviest media use are more likely to have lower grades in school.

This leads to the question of what can we do to make sure students are still learning in this media saturated world.  Some authors like Laurie David and Susan Stiffleman believe schools should cut out technology altogether due to this media addiction.  In their recent article, they believe:

Increasing the use of technology in the classroom is like feeding our kids pop tarts and soda; it tastes good and they like it, but it doesn't offer the nourishment they need. If schools go hi-tech across the board, they'll be feeding an addiction that, as most parents can tell you, is already out of control.

The only problem with this idea is it appears technology will become essential in classrooms in the future. Chris Pirillo in a recent internet video (see below),  believes the iPad is here to stay because of the ease of downloading books onto it and the amount of space that will be saved from using the technology.  School officials like J.Gerry Purdy go as far as seeing textbooks becoming revolutionized by the iPad.  In a recent article by The Journal, he said:

We'll go from trying to feed PDF textbooks into portable devices to building interactive, dynamic applications that students can carry around with them.

Whether technology is here to stay or not, there are many things parents and teachers can do to ensure children are learning their material and staying away from over using media. Teachers, like the ones in Shore and Wennona in Australia, should use the iPad to ensure this is something their students can handle. Parents can reduce media consumption at home by enforcing rules about media use and encouraging family time. The Smart Bean Magazine offers additional tips both parents and teachers can use to reduce the amount of media children consume.

Regardless of what parents and teachers decide to do, the children should remain their top priority.  If they are not learning the material and are struggling to function physically and mentally, by all means pull the plug on iPads. But if they are not, parents and teachers should collaborate with each other to figure out how students can get the most out of their new invention without causing a lot of problems.