Spring Break
The Daily OrangeTech temptation
By Amanda Allison
Posted: 1/15/08, 10:23 PM EST Section: Feature
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Thirty minutes later she has completed her last current events quiz of the year in COM 107: Communications and Society. She only missed two questions - a relief, as those missed points can add up.
Normile, an undecided freshman in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, along with a growing number of Syracuse University students bring their laptops to class in order to take notes, record lectures and review.
During the last couple years, Syracuse professors have noticed the trend of students bringing laptops into the classroom and have developed varying stances on its acceptability. While they feel positively about incorporating technology into their curriculum, most are in agreement it comes down to the student and how the laptop will benefit or hinder his or her education.
"On the one hand, I want to give students the maximum amount of latitude to do what they need to do to succeed in the class," said Bradley Gorham, a communications professor, in an e-mail. "If that means typing notes into a laptop instead around of taking note the old-fashioned way, that's fine."
"On the other hand, it seems simply too tempting for students with open laptops to do things other than pay attention and take notes, and that then becomes a distraction not only for them but for the students sitting next to them," Gorham said.
For David Baer, a freshman newspaper major, that possible distraction is nothing different than the options of spacing out or doodling in class.
"If I am in a large lecture and get bored, instead of drawing or passing notes to a friend, I find other activities on my computer," Baer said. "Just because you have a computer doesn't mean you will be more distracted. If you don't want to pay attention, you don't have to. You have to choose to focus."
Todd Alessandri, a Whitman School of Management professor, leaves the decision to focus in class up to his students, but he can tell when they're not paying attention, and reminds them often of the consequences.
One such consequence several years ago was the banning of laptops from all graduate Whitman classes after it was observed that many students spent their time surfing the Internet. Currently, graduate students can bring laptops only if specifically allowed by their professor.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Sue Heley
posted 1/16/08 @ 5:50 PM EST
Very informative article and I enjoyed hearing the point of view of so many different students and professors! Nicely written!
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