Staff Ed
“Professors say laptops interrupt class,” according to an article in last week’s Graphic, exposing yet another debate in the academic community. Should professors ban laptops in their individual classes, to increase the students’ attention and ultimately their grades? Because students are affecting their own grade by misusing laptops, they should be able to do what they please. Individual professors, however, should have the right to ban laptops as a last resort.
If students want to waste their time and let their grades suffer, it is their own fault. Therefore, students should be able to choose what kind of grades they earn. If the student is not distracting or taking away from the experience of other students who are responsibly using the Internet and their own laptops, responsibility lies with the student.
Conversely, it must be noted that while many students do use the Internet inappropriately during class, most of the faculty considers that group the minority. If laptop abusers are in the minority, then it is not fair to ban laptops to the majority of students who use laptops appropriately. Many students use laptops to take more efficient notes or even browse the Internet for more information about a lecture. If a professors ban laptops, they should single out the students who are abusing the computers.
Banning laptops in classrooms seems unrealistic and contradictory. The school has spent much time and effort to set up wireless networks across campus and in Elkins Auditorium, one of the most difficult facilities for monitoring inappropriate laptop use. By providing this wireless network, there will inherently be students who do not use the system for its intended purpose.
While laptops may contribute to classroom distractions, they are not the only cause of distractions. Even if the students did not have Internet access or laptops to waste time, they could still pass notes or doodle and draw as they previously did before laptops were commonplace. Students who ignore professors will not pay attention whether they have laptops or not.
Students ultimately have the choice to pay attention and get a good grade. There are many ways a students can ensure that they do not distract themselves. Students can leave their laptops at home and take notes by hand, if that is what it takes to keep them focused. The choice comes down to the student, not the rules that faculty put in place.
Some faculty members find students who surf the Web and send instant messages distracting, but it is no reason to punish students that are actually using the correct resources. There will always be the students who abuse the system that has been created to be used as an educational tool. Not all students should be punished because a few have made the choice to be
irresponsible.
Professors need to adapt to the changing advent of technology. Laptops will not be the last technological revolution to hit the academic world. These new technologies will provide fresh sources of distraction. Faculty members need to learn to adapt to the new challenges that a classroom full of laptops provides, not just ban them.
While banning laptops is not the ideal solution to the problem, it is definitely an option that professors have at their disposal. There are several ways to institute and enforce a ban, all of which depend on the professor and his or her class. They may elect to institute all-out bans, or they may use Internet kill switches, like other schools have done. Professors should reserve this right, but it should only be used in extreme cases, when no other option is available. The execution of these limitations should accordingly be restricted. Professors should need to be held accountable for instituting these disadvantageous bans.
Like many views of the students and faculty who were interviewed in the Graphic article, a ban may curb some students’ abuse, but it would greatly hinder the students legitimately trying to use their computers in a responsible manner.
Stopping the minority from goofing off is not worth hindering the majority, which uses laptops responsibly. While professors may retain the right to enact such bans in their own individual classrooms, these bans seem neither fair nor realistic.
02-22-2007