4 ms·

I’m Banning Laptops from My Classroom

11 points by dwynings 10y ago

mankash666 10y ago
Those who don't want to pay attention, won't do it without the laptop either.
- dazc 10y ago
  Maybe they don't think the are not paying attention? A lot of people just think they can multi-task, even though they can't.
unsignedint 10y ago
I didn't read past their paywall but one of the reasons I would use a laptop in that situation is purely because my handwriting is horrible to take a note. I would be fairly frustrated with this policy for standpoint of that.
mto 10y ago
People at University are grown ups, not school children. If they decide to ignore the lectures and still pass the exams, fine. If they fail, it's their own problem. I also think, attendance should never be mandatory. You should learn to reach your goals in a way that's best for you, not obediently sitting in classrooms. Of course, this is difficult for the ego of the lecturers who could often just be replaced by recordings, because they repeat their monologue word by word year after year, including the jokes. Recordings actually have big advantages anyway: you can pause them if you require time to think about something, you can play them faster for endless statements of obvious stuff and you can take a break when your brain needs it. I loved university back then, but the learning could have certainly been much more efficient (e.g. some lectures are fine, lectures for 6 hours straight are not). Same with exercises - some have a clear teaching goal and you can really benefit from them, others are a completely useless waste of time. Obviously it's not easy for a new student to differentiate between them, but I think figuring out how to best reach your learning goals by yourself is an important part of studying. Not all people are equal, but the teaching is usually done as if they were, so you have to give people the freedom to adapt the learning experience for themselves. Even if that means watching hockey games in class and reading the book during the night. It's a strategy. If it fails - you can learn from it.
kwhitefoot 10y ago
Lectures are a very poor educational tool anyway. Facts can be delivered in other ways leaving teaching time to concentrate on getting the students to interact with their teachers. The Socratic method is much better but harder work for both teacher and taught, although it is more efficient in the long run.

11 points by dwynings 10y ago

mankash666 10y ago

Those who don't want to pay attention, won't do it without the laptop either.

dazc 10y ago
Maybe they don't think the are not paying attention? A lot of people just think they can multi-task, even though they can't.

unsignedint 10y ago

I didn't read past their paywall but one of the reasons I would use a laptop in that situation is purely because my handwriting is horrible to take a note. I would be fairly frustrated with this policy for standpoint of that.

mto 10y ago

People at University are grown ups, not school children. If they decide to ignore the lectures and still pass the exams, fine. If they fail, it's their own problem. I also think, attendance should never be mandatory. You should learn to reach your goals in a way that's best for you, not obediently sitting in classrooms. Of course, this is difficult for the ego of the lecturers who could often just be replaced by recordings, because they repeat their monologue word by word year after year, including the jokes. Recordings actually have big advantages anyway: you can pause them if you require time to think about something, you can play them faster for endless statements of obvious stuff and you can take a break when your brain needs it. I loved university back then, but the learning could have certainly been much more efficient (e.g. some lectures are fine, lectures for 6 hours straight are not). Same with exercises - some have a clear teaching goal and you can really benefit from them, others are a completely useless waste of time. Obviously it's not easy for a new student to differentiate between them, but I think figuring out how to best reach your learning goals by yourself is an important part of studying. Not all people are equal, but the teaching is usually done as if they were, so you have to give people the freedom to adapt the learning experience for themselves. Even if that means watching hockey games in class and reading the book during the night. It's a strategy. If it fails - you can learn from it.

kwhitefoot 10y ago

Lectures are a very poor educational tool anyway. Facts can be delivered in other ways leaving teaching time to concentrate on getting the students to interact with their teachers. The Socratic method is much better but harder work for both teacher and taught, although it is more efficient in the long run.