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Are laptops a distraction in college classrooms? You bet. But are institutionalized restrictions the answer? After recent reports sparked a backlash against students plugging in (and tuning out) during class, Ars Technica asked readers what could be done. From the post:

“Outright bans [on laptops] are unlikely to be a long-term solution as students’ reliance on digital technology is only likely to increase. One alternative—wandering the classroom to monitor what students are doing (used both at the University of Colorado-Boulder and West Point)—isn’t going to work in all contexts.”

Setting aside all arguments for the technology, I think there’s something to be said about the challenge of overcoming distraction on your own. For me, the autonomy to choose between responsible activities and fun ones and ultimately striking a balance between the two was one of the most difficult, yet rewarding adjustments that marked the transition from high school to college. For better or worse, the consequences of these types of decisions teach us what it means to be a disciplined, independent person.

And if students are protected from these distractions by bans or teachers watching over their shoulders, they’re also deprived of this valuable learning experience. An experience that will inevitably come up again down the line with ramifications that will probably be a lot more severe than a lower grade on a test.

Those who bring their computers on to campus are primarily doing so for educational purposes. The communtainment aspects are a secondary perk. And most of the time, they’re probably using it for both at once. So even if that MS Word doc is up, there’s probably also a minimized Facebook, Gmail or the like waiting to be called back up.

This may be frustrating for professors who want to command all of a student’s attention (and I have no qualms with calling out students who are excessive or disruptive with their web use), but in the larger scheme of things it’s a student’s responsibility to hunker down and focus. This ability to wrangle a partial attention span divided between the immediate environment and the remote world at the fingertips, will be an issue everywhere outside of the hallowed halls of an educational institution. Why should the classroom be an exception?

Sorta Related
A post on PSFK on how multimedia lectures on iTunes University may actually improve students’ grades.

For more campus coverage, visit the Ypulse Campus Channel, sponsored by Campus Media Group.

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Categorized under: Collegians

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