Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 14, No. 759.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 06:36:05 +0000
From: John Lavagnino <John.Lavagnino@kcl.ac.uk>
Subject: Decorum; or, Kids these days!
Ian Ayres, a law professor at Yale, has an opinion piece in the New
York Times for March 20, 2001, under the title "Lectures vs. Laptops";
it's about the scourge of students using their laptops during classes
for things other than note-taking (e-mail, games, web surfing).
... I was surprised at how brazenly my own students
resisted my laptop restrictions, both in class discussion
and in a virtual chat room (which, perversely, they could
post to during their other classes). They argued that they
were multitasking, staying productive during dead or badly
taught portions of class. They said classroom surfing
reduces sleepiness, increases their willingness to attend
class, allows them to research legal questions being
discussed, and so on. They said the professor has an
incentive to teach more effectively when he or she must
compete against other more interesting claims on students'
attention.
Their arguments could apply equally well to the opera hall,
the jury box or the church pew. Will the lure of
technological stimulation someday overwhelm current mores
about paying attention in those places, too? At least, we
should try to stem the tide in the classroom. ...
Curiously enough, there was an article in the Times within the last
few years about how Americans now assume they can also eat anywhere
they like, and are having to be told that (for example) you shouldn't
bring snacks to church.
John Lavagnino
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
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