Monday, February 15, 2010
Remember when...
Holidays...regardless of what they are...always take me on a trip down memory lane. So for Valentine's Day, I like to reminisce about the little Valentine mailboxes from grade school and how fun it was when one of my friends got a secret message. The whole thought and process that went in to that little boy sending that message is quite amusing and sweet. To savor a message and the thought that goes in to it...it seems a concept that gets lost in the shuffle today. It amazes me to think how our concept of urgency when thinking about messages has evolved...from a phone rining and knowing someone will call back later if I don't pick up the phone at that moment to the answering machine taking a message for me to call back later to now...when we feel that every message is of utmost importance and we lose our attention on anything else of importance until we suffice that need to respond instantaneously to whomever sent that text. I feel like the cell phone - although it has been very beneficial in many ways - has hindered the learning process. It is such a distraction for students who bring them to class! Maybe this post is coming out of frustration that one student was sitting in my class...in the front row....with his phone out texting like it was completely acceptable. AND...even after I asked him out right to put it up...a few minutes later it resurfaced (albeit this time in his lap) to text some more. To me that is SO incredibly rude...I know my class is one of your electives, but is there something SO urgent that can't wait another 45 minutes for you to address? Sometimes I wish there were a button I could push that would automatically interfere with all cellphone signals in my classroom so that there would be no point in checking for messages every 5 minutes during class...maybe then students could focus more on learning than figuring out what to do for lunch...
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That sounds really frustrating. My class is only 10 students, so I havent really had this happen. Maybe you could talk to him outside of class to impress how distracting / disrespectful that is? Technology has really turned into an obsession with some people... good luck with your texter!
ReplyDeleteThe texting is a frustrating issue to tackle. I know several students who also use their phone as a clock rather than turn around, it is much easier (apparently) to fish around for their phone and check the time. Sudoko and crosswords are another issue. The students think they are being sneaky - they cut them out and put them on top of their notes. How do we impart to our students that we can see what they are doing? I like some of the ideas for student centered learning that use the students to design rules regarding cell phones, food, etc. I wonder if peer pressure would work to limit texting in class. I would love to see any data out there about the effectiveness of using these approaches towards improving classroom attentiveness because they are indicated to improve engagement and would be fun to use.
ReplyDeleteI, too, have had this issue. I even have even taught labs where people would leave the room when they received phone calls so that they could chat out in the hall. I suppose that I should be glad that they didn't do their talking in the room during my lecture!
ReplyDeleteIn one of my teaching courses they recommended having students form their own rules as a opening day exercises; basically, people drop rule suggestions in a box, you type them up, and the class votes. Perhaps you could address the phone issue in this way. Odds are that the students recognize that it's rude, they just don't think about it. If you can get the students to self-police, the peer pressure associated with that is much more effective than you making requests. There's nothing better than when one student tells another, "could you turn off your phone in class?" Unfortunately it's probably too late to do this this semester...
This need to be connected during all waking hours is an unfortunate side-effect of the technology of today. I feel it at times myself. Sometimes subtle methods for addressing these problems can be effective (standing near the offending student, looking them directly in the eye, mentioning it in passing), but when these don't work, it's time for tougher measures. You might decide to tell students that if there is something else they need to do during the class time, then they should not be in the classroom where they might distract others who want to be there. Another idea is to have a talk about it with the class - what is appropriate behavior in this classroom? Finally, talk to other instructors in your department to see how they handle the problem.
ReplyDeleteIs it too late to do something this semester? Not with midterm coming up. See my blog post this week about implementing a mid-term evaluation.