Learn to deal with those distractions now. Use your device for productivity, not as a modern version of doodling and you’ll be more successful in life.

Why do some professors hate technology? Simple, it provides you with the opportunity to find a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips. Knowledge use to be sacred and rare. They controlled that knowledge and now they feel like it is slipping through their fingers….no one likes to lose control.

Lastly, explain to me how you can claim you are preparing the leaders of tomorrow by only allowing them to use the tools of the past.

And… just so the college kids know… professors have been lecturing for millenia. Get over the “I’m bored” rant. Learn to concentrate and glean what you can from these people who know their subject far better than you do. You’re not paying them to entertain you. You’re paying the university for an EDUCATION. If you’d rather be entertained while educated, go home and watch Sesame Street and Magic School Bus.

As for the physical barrier argument, isn’t the desk also a physical barrier. Yet, people have learned while sitting behind desks for a very long time. Regardless, I have never felt a need for a physical connection to a professor to learn. I felt no difference in “barriers” when I didn’t have my laptop.

He also used the transcription argument, which may be true for some, but not for me. My hand-written notes are horrible compared to my typed notes. My typed notes are much more organized. In addition, when I need to look back into my notes for something, I can find what I’m looking for much quicker with the “find” function on my laptop. I’m simply better organized and spend my time more efficiently when studying for an exam when I use my laptop to take notes. But most importantly, I can continue to watch the instructor while I’m taking notes on my laptop. I don’t need to look at what I’m writing. With notebook and pen I was constantly looking down at my paper. I can’t write with a pen legibly without looking at the paper. I am more engaged when I am able to take notes on my laptop.

I really think it all comes down to professors being worried about the third argument, that students will be wasting time on Facebook or some other such website. This is the only argument that I think is really valid. It is about respecting the professor and the effort he/she has put into the lesson. My school has a pretty simple policy on this. The Dean or faculty members randomly walk into the back of classrooms or look through the windows to see if students are using their laptops for something other than education. If they see a Facebook screen or other non-related website, you will be asked to pack up and leave class. That only had to happen a couple of times before students decided the embarrasment of being called out in front of the entire class and asked to leave was not worth browsing the web. I’m in my third year of law school and it only happend a couple of times my first year.

Students all have different study habits and learn in different ways. Students should have options that best suit them, but it is reasonable to have repercussions for those students that aren’t respecting the professor’s time.

“We are surrounded by technology every day. So why are more professors than ever banning students from bringing it into the classroom?”

^ This is frustrating.

The argument here falls completely flat. And the whole Cuisinart meme thing is quite distasteful.

Why pay all that money to spend your time surfing the Web and distracting others?

The classroom should be a sanctuary from this whole science fiction zombie scenario turned reality where everyone is staring into a screen all the time.

I don’t get it.

While there are some classes that require note-taking, a lot of them don’t at all, and those using them or web browsing aimlessly tend to distract people around them.

Technology may make it easier to take notes quickly, but, it also makes is harder to get the detail. If you are taking notes on your laptop and the teacher starts drawing a diagram on the board, it’s not possible to keep up with it in a note taking program. You could try making the argument for a tablet, but I’ve yet to find a good app that lets me take notes and draw in the same file.

The point also needs to be made that there is a serious gap in technology users. The easy thing to do is blame the professors for “not keeping up with the times” except that really isn’t fair. Just as it isn’t fair for people our age to be expected to know how to operate a traditional film camera. Are there people who can do it? Certainly, but I think those people would be severely outnumbered by those who can’t.

Taking a class on coding websites would be useless without a computer, plain and simple. At the same time, students took social science classes 20 years ago and got the material then, so there is no reason why students shouldn’t be able to today. If used correctly, the technology could definitely be helpful, but is it necessary? No!

I’m not saying that I suddenly miss the rest of the lecture, but I have definitely missed an important point, etc. And this is a common occurrence in some of my classes, and it just sucks, so I’m all for banning them.

That is all.