By Suu Elen Manzano |Staff Writer|
I don’t think students should use devices such as laptops, tablets or cell phones in the classroom because they are a distraction to others around them.
Just the sound of the click-clack-click-clack of a laptop’s keyboard sends me worlds away from the lecture at hand.
Not all students pounding away at the keyboard are actually taking notes either. Some are catching up on Facebook, sending e-mails, instant messaging or playing games.
The unfortunate sucker sitting behind him will likely get distracted while trying not to gaze into his peers luminous screen.
“I don’t want students to get distracted,” says Dr. Derakhshan, professor of Strategic Management.
Yet some would argue that this is where the personal integrity and restraint of each student is supposed to come into play, but not all students have the willpower.
Some of my fellow students on the other hand would not agree on the technology-free classroom. For some, typing is necessary to keep up with professors.
“I use my MacBook Air to take notes; I can type all the information the professors are saying during their lecture, especially when they are going fast,” said student Lidia Carillo.
I can definitely empathize that some professors are quick to speak and slow to pause, causing major hand-cramping if you are jotting down notes.
I think a better solution to this problem would be to use a recording device. This would definitely cut down the hand cramps and annoying clacking sound that distracts students.
“There is a good way of training them to use technology, acquire information and store information,” says Dr. Gary D. Patterson. “I encourage it in that way.”
Recording a lecture would allow students to really listen to the content of the lecture, re-listen to it at home, pause it and type up notes with assured accuracy.
Now at this point you may be thinking I am a hypocrite, but my reluctance to use technology in the classroom is based on the distractions they cause.
One student mentions how the distraction is not limited to students, professors also feel computers take away their spotlight.
“I personally [have not had] a professor who didn’t let us use our laptops in class, but they often voiced their insecurities of having to compete for students attention,” said student Ronald Del Cid.
Technological devices are weapons of mass distraction. The exception being a recording device which gets placed at the front of the classroom nearest to the professor.
It records unnoticed and allows your peers to stay focused on the lecture, not your Facebook page.
Almost every phone on the market has a built-in recorder. With digital formatting you could even share the recordings with others in your class via e-mail, maybe even make a friend or two.
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