TLT CoffeeRead: Surfing the Class

Posted on May 19, 2008 
Filed Under TLT Coffee Read

Surfing the Class

Professor talks about his battles with in-class Web surfing, and how some students feel it is their right to do so.

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3 Responses to “TLT CoffeeRead: Surfing the Class”

  1. Cole on May 19th, 2008 6:54 pm

    One of the things that bothers me a bit about the perspective that laptops can only be used for evil in the classroom is that it ignores a very powerful fact — that laptops can be a force that pushes the walls of the classroom out. I have been in lots of classrooms (as the teacher) and seen the abuse that goes on, but when I work harder to engage my students they use the laptops as tools … not for just taking notes, but for working together to find new meaning in what it is we are discussing. Another thing I am very interested in at the moment is the use of laptops to engage in back-channel activities — sharing links via Twitter, taking live notes in a blog, sharing google docs to build new meaning, and so on.

    I think some of us stop short on the argument of laptop use in class … if you look at the most recent FACAC data a majority of our faculty don’t mind if students use their laptops to take notes … what are we doing as instructional designers/technologists to push this notion forward? To help identify new ways of attacking this opportunity? The easy answer is to simply say, “laptops closed.”

  2. dave on May 21st, 2008 4:50 am

    The only argument I’ve heard in favor of closed laptops that makes any sense to me is the one that mentions the impact on students behind and beside the abuser. Otherwise, I shiver thinking of the quality of education and level of engagement that’s being sold if students can pass even if they play games during class. If the requirements are challenging enough and topics engaging enough why would an intelligent student opt for solitaire?

  3. Cole Camplese on May 21st, 2008 10:08 am

    Dave, agreed.

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