Despite IT cutbacks, the number of universities in the process of upgrading to smart classrooms—those wired for wireless and other techno-marvels—has been on the upswing for some time. As reported in the
2008 Campus Computing Survey, the number of wired classrooms hovered around the 67 percent mark; 75 percent if looking at just private institutions. On the surface, all well and good.
Regardless of the obvious benefits to college instructors everywhere, however, such advancements are not without their drawbacks. As it turns out—OMG!—instant messaging, online shopping, gaming, twitter-fingering, and other "critical-to-basic-survival" FaceBook/MySpace social networking chores have proven themselves to be somewhat of a distraction to students and teachers alike.
Keeping this from getting too far out of hand...
Some teachers use self-governing social contracts, a device by which students agree to keep each other informed regarding the odd occasion when in-class laptop use might possibly—just possibly—have become a bit too much.
Other teachers wait awhile before taking action. Regular in-class laptop users are carefully—albeit surreptitiously—observed and duly noted in the weeks leading up to the first test. After posting grades, the grade-differential between users and non-users is publicized.
Diane Sieber—a University of Colorado/Boulder professor—has found that in-class laptop users generally score 11 percent lower than their fellow classmates. She has also found that in-class laptop use decreases significantly after the grade-differential is made public and the semester enters its final stretch.
Harvard and Georgetown are among those universities who have instituted laptop-free zones.
And then, there is this one professor…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5w-7IpI0fI
Sources
Lov Lovett, H. A. (2009, November 9). Laptop use distracts students, annoys teachers, affects learning. Finding Dulcinea. Retrieved from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2009/march/Students-Using-Laptops-in-Class-Do-Worse-on-Tests.html
Ca Campus Computing. (2008, October 29) The 2008 Campus Computing Survey. Retrieved from Campus Computing website: http://www.campuscomputing.net/content-item/new-2008-campus-computing-survey-executive-summary-29-oct-2008
YouYouTube. (sidewalksurfer9) (2010, February 19) Professor destroys laptop. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5w-7IpI0fI