2008 Woodie Awards
RSSTechnology can interfere with class, profs say
By Kimberly Osborn
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: News
Students no longer pass the time in class by drawing doodles, passing notes, throwing paper airplanes or lobbing spitballs. Instead, they send text messages and surf the Internet.
Technology is more advanced and accessible than ever before, and students are increasingly distracted by cell phones and laptop computers.
Most professors prohibit the use of cell phones in class because they interrupt lectures and challenge education.
Some professors will not tolerate students using their portable devices in class.
Last fall, Professor Ali Nazemi, who was teaching a market research course at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., illustrated his zero tolerance for cell phone use in class by confiscating a student's cell phone after he heard it ring and destroying it with a hammer, according to an article in The New York Times.
The incident turned out to be staged.
The student and professor scripted the episode, and the phone had an expired service contract, rendering it useless. Still, students got the message.
Nazemi told The New York Times he and his colleagues are struggling to keep students' attention.
Carolyn Walbert, '11, said she has never been caught sending text messages in class because it is easy to hide cell phones under desks.
Many use this tactic to communicate with others.
"Texting in class isn't as bad as skipping class," Taylor Foxworth, '11, said. "At least I absorb some of the information."
Many students occasionally send text messages in class but agree cell phone use in high school was not an option. Students rarely carried phones, and teachers easily could observe each student in class. But in a lecture hall with 200 students, most students are much less intimidated by professors.
Students spend time in class not only sending text messages, but also accessing the Internet. Instant messaging programs and Web sites all preoccupy students.
Wireless internet in classrooms has added a new dimension of distraction.
Technology is more advanced and accessible than ever before, and students are increasingly distracted by cell phones and laptop computers.
Most professors prohibit the use of cell phones in class because they interrupt lectures and challenge education.
Some professors will not tolerate students using their portable devices in class.
Last fall, Professor Ali Nazemi, who was teaching a market research course at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., illustrated his zero tolerance for cell phone use in class by confiscating a student's cell phone after he heard it ring and destroying it with a hammer, according to an article in The New York Times.
The incident turned out to be staged.
The student and professor scripted the episode, and the phone had an expired service contract, rendering it useless. Still, students got the message.
Nazemi told The New York Times he and his colleagues are struggling to keep students' attention.
Carolyn Walbert, '11, said she has never been caught sending text messages in class because it is easy to hide cell phones under desks.
Many use this tactic to communicate with others.
"Texting in class isn't as bad as skipping class," Taylor Foxworth, '11, said. "At least I absorb some of the information."
Many students occasionally send text messages in class but agree cell phone use in high school was not an option. Students rarely carried phones, and teachers easily could observe each student in class. But in a lecture hall with 200 students, most students are much less intimidated by professors.
Students spend time in class not only sending text messages, but also accessing the Internet. Instant messaging programs and Web sites all preoccupy students.
Wireless internet in classrooms has added a new dimension of distraction.
