I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a Facebook addict. Facebook distracts me from my homework, my to-do list and even this column. I just can’t tear myself away from the site, which is why I don’t bring my laptop to any of my classes. It takes my focus off of the professor.
I realize that not everyone who brings computers to class is on Facebook or chatting online with friends. There is the rare specimen that uses them strictly to type up notes. But the majority of students who bring their laptops to class have at least one other window up while taking notes.
The GW professors who have started to ban computers from their classrooms are perfectly justified in doing so. In an educational setting, it is hard to make much progress if the students lack respect for their instructor. Shopping online for new shoes while the professor is speaking isn’t exactly the definition of respect.
As the Hatchet reported (“Professors limit laptop use in classes,” Feb. 5, p. 3), many GW professors have found laptops to hinder, not enhance, a student’s learning experience. What more, Georgetown Law professor David Cole performed an informal study which showed that 80 percent of his students were more engaged once he banned laptops from his classroom.
This isn’t just a local phenomenon. Recently, there has been a movement among the country’s various law schools to ban laptops in classrooms. Harvard University, the University of Memphis and the University of Pennsylvania all have law professors that don’t welcome computers in lecture halls.
It isn’t just professors that are annoyed by laptops in their classes. Those students that can stand being separated from their computers for the duration of a lecture might not enjoy others having them because the machines are distracting, even if you personally are not using one. It can be frustrating when you are sitting in a large lecture and everyone around you is typing away. It’s hard to hear what the professor is saying when all you can hear is the loud clacking of fingers hitting the keyboard.
It’s also distracting when students are on Facebook right in front of you. Most people couldn’t care less about those crazy pictures from that party last week. No one is trying to look at them, but it’s hard not to notice the wasted, scantily clad girl plastered all over the screen.
Still, there is a way to appease both sides here. Some schools have classrooms where the Internet connection in the entire room can be turned on or off with the flip of a switch. This is a great way to compromise between professors and students. Students can bring their laptops so they can type up notes, but they are unable to get online unless the professor decides it would be beneficial to the class. At the very least, it would make everyone more engaged.
Yes, we are all grown college students and shouldn’t have to be told to pay attention. And if each computer-happy student was only taking away from their own education, fine. But that’s not the case.
Computers not only disrupt a professor’s lecture, but they also can distract other students. Professors should have the choice of banning laptops so that all of their students can get the most out of their lessons.
And if you’re reading this column during a lecture, it’s time to look up and start paying attention.
The writer, a freshman majoring in international affairs, is a Hatchet columnist.
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