Every DU student is required to spend several hundred dollars on a laptop. But all too often, these laptops are underutilized. They sit on dorm room desks for weeks at a time, not being taken to a single class.
Why? Because professors ban them from classrooms.
Now, there are some professors who make great use of the technological advantages of laptops. They post readings on Blackboard so students can reference them on their laptops in class. They have students submit in-class assignments electronically, cutting down on the amount of paper used.
But for every professor that embraces the required laptops, there seems to be at least one who bans them from class, usually under the excuse of not wanting students to be distracted by them.
But when did it become the responsibility of professors to babysit the young adults in their classes?
If a student is not paying attention because he’s chatting on Facebook, that’s his problem, not his professor’s.
If a student gets a bad grade for failing to participate in class discussion or because she didn’t take notes, so be it. The student made the choice.
In addition to conditioning students to expect hand-holding from professors, banning laptops completely clashes with DU’s stated commitment to sustainability.
Requiring students to print out 30-page readings to bring to class is a ridiculous waste of paper.
In conclusion, professors need to stop banning laptops from class and realize that in this day and age, many students are more comfortable reading on a computer screen and typing their notes.
The fact that some students misuse technology is no reason to ban it.
After all, how many professors ban pens and notebooks after noticing students doodling in the margins?
15 comments
Why not just jam wireless network (including 3g and cellphone) cellphone signals during lecture periods as they do in some restaurants.
With a laptop, I can touch-type very fast for about 45 minutes with very little attention, thus allowing me to listen to what the teacher is saying.
For me, the banning of a laptop is the same as banning the taking of notes.
DU requires their students to have a laptop they should get to use them in class and it really isn't the job of the professors to police what the students are paying attention to. I did my undergrad long before laptops existed and it is just as easy to not pay attention in class without a laptop as it is with one. At least with a laptop I might get something else useful done during a boring lecture.
If your attention span and ability to concentrate is so poor that someone typing/clicking on a laptop near you in class distracts you so much that you cannot pay attention to the professor you really don't belong in college.