Colleagues,
Since Mikaila was referring specifically to my post, I'd like to
respond. I do not allow laptops because they are distracting to all
students (not just those using them) and to me. Yes, students can
doodle and play tic-tac-toe, but they are less likely to do so because
they know it is easily monitored, and when I notice students doing it, I
ask them to stop. Plus, tic-tac-toe is much less enticing than almost
anything on the web. And I am talking about classrooms with wireless access.
Second, I agree that students are adults and need to take responsibility
for their own learning. But we put into place lots of other
restrictions and rules to help them focus on their learning--due dates,
exams, page requirements for papers, etc. This is just another method I
use to help students stay focused on what they are doing in class.
Finally, in my experience, students with learning needs do not feel
stigmatized by this policy. Students are quite open with me and with
other students about their accommodations, such as extra time on exams
or separate rooms. It is certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. If
I found that it was stigmatizing for students, I would certainly make
appropriate adjustments in the policy.
Teresa
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
1. I actually don't think having laptops in class makes students any
less likely to take notes or any more likely to do alternative
activities in class. There are lots of things you can do quite well in
a notebook: homework for other courses, writing love letters or
birthday cards, the crossword puzzle, drawing pictures, passing notes
to your friends, playing tic tac toe with the person next to you,
taking a nap, etc. It just makes it easier for us as faculty to spy on
these alternate activities. Our students are adults (or at least should
be treated as such); as long as they are not disrupting the ability of
other students to learn, let them screw themselves if they want to. And
if they can do very well while playing solitare in the classroom? More
power to them, or change your course requirements so that they need to
pay attention. (One other note--the biggest problem is actually WiFi in
the classroom. Shopping is much more likely to make students unaple to
listen to the lecture than playin g solitare is).
2. As someone who had to use a laptop to take notes as an undergraduate
due to a physical disability at a time before it was common for
students to bring them to class, I experienced considerable stigma for
doing so. I think that it is ethically irresponsible for us to increase
the stigma that students with physical and learning disabilities face
simply so that we can act in loco parentis to other students. If you
have a policy of no laptops except for those with disabilities, then
everyone in the classroom immediately knows that all students with
laptops HAVE disabilities. And as for the previous poster who has a
policy allowing laptops for those with learning disabilities, I would
point out that the rest of your class will now be assuming that every
student with a physical disability in fact has a learning disability.
Are these the lessons that we as sociologists want to teach? That
people with disabilities should stand out and be noticed and
stigmatized?
Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur
New York University and Queens College, CUNY
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*************************************************************
Teresa Ciabattari, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
Sonoma State University
Stevenson Hall 2084
1801 East Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
Phone: (707) 664-2561
Fax: (707) 664-3920
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
