Over the last decade, more and more schools (both undergrad and grad) became “wired,” started offering school-wide WiFi access, and began requiring students to own laptops. This, initially, was seen as a great thing. Technology was being brought into the classroom, and administrators, students, and professors alike embraced it and excitedly spoke about the limitless possibilities of this brand-new resource.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t panned out that way.
For many students, bringing laptops into the classroom was a boon: It allowed them to take notes quickly and efficiently, and made searching for classroom materials easily done in real time. However, for many others, it has become a huge distraction — Georgetown Law Professor David Cole put it this way for The Washington Post: “[It] is like putting on every student’s desk, when you walk into class, five different magazines, several television shows, some shopping opportunities and a phone, and saying, ‘Look, if your mind wanders, feel free to pick any of these up and go with it.’” Cole is one of many professors in law schools and universities around the country that have banned laptop use in the classroom.
As students have become more and more “wired,” attention spans in the classroom have waned. Laptops, smartphones, and iPhones pose a variety of distractions to students — distractions many find hard to avoid, and can sometimes be detrimental to their overall performance. Students find themselves checking Facebook, updating Twitter, chatting on various programs, and surfing the web throughout class. Just this past week, another Georgetown Professor, Peter Tague, found himself the epicenter of a widespread rumor regarding the retirement of SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts; he unwittingly started this viral rumor after telling his students of the “retirement” at the start of his class, and then asking them not to tell anyone. Students, in turn (and completely disregarding their professor’s instructions), immediately started texting, Twittering, Facebooking, and spreading the news in as many electronic formats as they could (see the breakdown of this story at NPR and Above The Law.) While the rumor was quelled within a day and no harm came of it, it underscores a painfully poignant point: Even when told not to do so, students seemingly can’t keep themselves off the web and off their phones, even at the expense of their education.
One Oklahoma Professor, Keiran Mullen, finally had enough, and decided to prove his disdain for laptops in his class in a way very fitting to his science background: By dousing a laptop in liquid nitrogen and then smashing it on the classroom floor — all while his astonished students watched (and likely put their laptops discreetly away).
Is this anti-technology trend something that will permeate all educational establishments? It’s hard to tell. One thing’s for sure, though: As more and more law schools climb onto the no-laptop wagon, it’s in all prospective law students’ best interest to start relying less on their apps, and more on their penmanship.
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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
What do you think? Should law school professors and law schools be allowed to enforce no-laptop rules in the classroom? Will it improve students’ attention spans and grades? Is a no-laptop rule a boon or a bust?
This is absolutely ridiculous, but it doesn’t surprise me one bit! Higher education is full of extremely intelligent individuals who have little or no training in effective instruction. A while back I wrote a post titled Ban Boredom not Laptops on just this topic. If you don’t want to take the time to read the post, I have briefly summarized it.
Students get distracted and become off task when they are not engaged in class. Trust me, students don’t need a laptop to be off-task. If instruction is poor, students may doodle or simply float off to a nice comfortable place in their own minds. Taking away their laptops won’t change that. The only thing that can get students more engaged is to provide better instruction. I was a classroom teacher and then principal responsible for evaluating teachers. Much of my training for those positions focused on identifying effective instructional practices. Unfortunately, many professors have very little training about instructional practices. I worry that there are also some who don’t care about effective instructional practices. The K-12 education system does need changing also, and hopefully I am part of that reform movement. With that being said, K-12 educators do routinely participate in professional development and focus on improving teaching and learning. Can the same thing be said for most professors?
Currently, I am at a higher education institution. When I walk around campus, I am disturbed by much of the instruction taking place. I talk with students who are eager to share their stories about the lack in the quality of their instruction. These experiences are not unique to my university. The graduation rates for four year institutions may be one indicator of how poor instruction is. One of the biggest differences that I see between K-12 and higher ed. is a simple philosophy. Most K-12 educators seem to agree that learning is the goal of education. Therefore, teaching needs to be altered to ensure learning takes place. Higher ed. instructors seems to think that if teaching has taken place, the students are solely responsible for their learning. The quality or lack of quality of instruction is not the concern of the instructor.
Burning laptops, smashing them with a hammer, or banning them altogether seem like pretty foolish solutions. If the laptops remain a concern, would it be possible to ask students to close them during a certain part of class? (This may be simple, but I was an elementary teacher.) Would it also be possible to have discussions about appropriate use of laptops? If students don’t respond to this, I would be a little surprised by the lack of maturity of your law students.
I know that I for one don’t want to ever be represented by a lawyer who was banned from using a laptop in law school because someone felt s/he might be too distracted. Their education would be somewhat limited if they were not allowed to use a tool that could very likely be one of the most powerful tools they use every day of their career. The laptop is not the issue in these classes……it is the quality of instruction.
http://1to1schools.net/2009/11/ban-boredom-not-laptops.html
I agree with Nick that this is goofy. Student engagement flows from good instruction. If your students are bored and off-task, it’s not the technology’s fault, it’s yours. You reap what you sow…
Nick, I couldn’t agree more. I think that you put it particularly well: “Students get distracted and become off task when they are not engaged in class. Trust me, students don’t need a laptop to be off-task. If instruction is poor, students may doodle or simply float off to a nice comfortable place in their own minds. Taking away their laptops won’t change that. The only thing that can get students more engaged is to provide better instruction.”
That is exactly my thinking. In my travels visiting various law schools, as I have met with students and sat in on classes, it has always been my experience that the more engaging and energetic instructors never had any problems keeping their students on track and interested, regardless of the laptop situation. I have found that to be the case in my own classrooms, as well. If you love teaching and have a profound vested interest in making sure your students are learning, then no amount of technology can truly distract a student. Professors need to be taught (oh, the irony) how to be teachers. Getting a Masters or a Ph.D. does not qualify you to teach, but many schools don’t require incoming instructors to have a proven teaching background. In my mind, it should be the primary requirement for any teaching position.
I would also venture, however, that some of the fault does rest with students. Many students, I find, choose to apply and then attend law school almost as a “default” option, without giving any thought to whether it is the best career path for them. This then manifests itself in a disengagement with the material which, in turn, manifests itself in an inability to focus in the classroom and a penchant for “wired” distractions. While you may not want to be represented by an attorney that was denied a laptop in a classroom, I wouldn’t want to be represented by one that was all to willing to give in to the temptations of Facebook and Twitter when they should have at least attempted to focus on the classroom at hand.
Do I think laptops should be banned? No. Students, as you said, will always find ways to become distracted, regardless of the technology given or banned. I think it’s important to treat the root of the problem, and not the symptoms. It’s a two-way street. Professors need to be better teachers, no doubt. But students also need to be better learners.