This Bear Is Up a Tree

This Bear Is Up a Tree
photo by Scott Granneman

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Texting During Class Revisited

Yesterday I posted comments about classroom technology distractions or opportunities, depending on your perspective. Here is a link to an email I received yesterday that should prompt some interesting discussion.

17 comments:

  1. Okay, so for the letter. I am with the teacher on this one. The kid was very disrespectful. Snickerin with his "girl" friends, and all the talk in the class. I think she was right to keep on this, the kid wouldn't have learned anything about humility and just maners. I bet if he apologised and talked nice to her then it would have been okay, or at least she would have understood better. arguing gets us no where fast.

    About texting in class i am against it. Maybe if it is a emergency, but most messages can wait tell after class. Ipods and MP3s, well we sould be paying attention to the teacher. Laptops are good tools and are fine when we get a chance to use them. Playing games or things during a boring classs, well that is what makes us loose the privilage for all of us.

    I am a big beleiver in if you respect a person, they should respect you back. Or better "treat others like you would want to be treated". It helps and fighting just makes a bad situation worse.

    Have a good one yall, Benjamin Holovacs

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  2. I have to agree with the professor, if you choose to deliberately disobey the professor and you get caught, you should step up and accept the consequences. Denying it and lying about it simply shows how immature you are. If you're big enough to think for yourself and "do what you want to do" then you're big enough to accept those consequences that you bring upon yourself.

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  3. I think that if someone can text without being disrespectful and doesn't disrupt the class if the rules allow, on should be able to text. This kid was a jerk on purpose and should have had to do something more degrading that just bring donuts, but the teachers seemed really nice.

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  4. That was a strange story.

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  5. I find the concepts of the student "paying the professor's salary" and being capable of "dropping the course uninjured" particularly interesting as I have heard these statements in variable forms before. It is my personal opinion that much like citizens give up some freedoms for other benefits, the student must do the same. Students voluntarily submit themselves to a contracted learning enviroment established by the professor. Yes, the student had the option to take the class, and may abandon it should he or she so choose, but while in the course, certain freedoms -such as texting- are exchanged for the opportunity to be taught. The scriptures say to "give to Ceaser what is Ceaser's" in regard to payment of tax in the New Testament times, and likewise students ought to "give to the professor what belongs to the professor", which is 50 to 75 minutes of uninterrupted attention. Ceaser utilized the taxes collected (in large) for the maintainance of the community the citizens were allowed to participate in, and benefit from. Likewise, a professor estabilishes rule that the appropriate learning atmosphere of his or her class will be "maintained" for optimal opportunity for the students in the course as a whole.
    In responding directly to this article, the collection of the "four dozen donuts", was apparently a part of the contract the professor had established for the class as the consequence to breaking the "contract" the student had entered by enrolling in the course. The life leason gleaned, is a understanding of the commitments we enter and freedoms we trade off for our benefit, be it in a work enviroment, place of citizenship, or academic realm. The student in the story would lose the opportunity to experience the truth of the tradeoff, and be detrimented by future similar performances and repeated attitudes should the behavior become habit.

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  6. Texting in class, in my opinion, should be allowed. If a student doesn’t want to pay attention it is only hurting their grade. If texting was distracting to the class then it should be avoided. However, if the teacher says that texting is not allowed then that rule needs to be followed.

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  7. I find texting in class as a distaction. Not only is the student doing the texting not paying attention to the professor, but can also be disruptive to classmates around them. I can understand taking notes using a laptop but when the class rules clearly state 'no texting in class' or 'no cell phones in class,'then a student should follow them. If there is a phone call about a true emergency, I can see why a student might need to answer a call. However most texting consists of small talk between friends.

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  8. I personally, am not a fan of texting in class, however I feel that if a student wants to text in class, that's on them, and they're the one who is missing out on the lecture. I don't allow other people's texting to distract me, but I know some students do, so I understand why most teacher make a rule of no texting in class.

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  9. Let's face it we all text but I think there is a time and place for it. I can understand a quick "I'll call you after class" or short answers that answer the persons question or whatever but for someone to sit there for the entire class carrying on a full conversation via text message is disrespectful to both the professor and the rest of the class not to mention poor manners. How unprofessional. You wouldn't sit in a business meeting texting the whole time it's just inappropriate. If the conversation is really that important and intense then the student needs to excuse themselves from the class they obviously arn't contributing or getting anything out of the class and they could possibly be disrupting others.

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  10. Personally I don't think people should be texting in class. Proffesors spend a lot of time preparing their lectures and for students to be sitting their texting while they are speaking is disrespectful. I'm not going to lie, I used to text all the time in class. Until a proffesor I had last year explained why texting was a slap in the face of the proffesor who works hard trying to explain the class material. He compared texting to students who come to class until the attendance is taken and then leave. I saw his point and had never looked at it from a proffesor's point of view.

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  11. I think that texting in class is normally bad for a students productivity. However if that student chooses to text it is his or her decision and will affect him or her. But if the teacher puts in the syllabus no texting then that is a rule that you have to man up and follow.

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  12. I think it should be up to the student whether or not they should text in class or not. It will definetly cause the student not to be able to concentrate or focus, but that only reflects back on their grade. On the other hand it shoudn't be in a matter that is distractful to any other students, or disrespectful to the professor.

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  13. I think it is kind of unreasonable for teachers to expect students not to text during class. It is rude and destracting, but it will happen.

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  14. I think that texting in class can lead to distractions when it comes to the point that everyone is texting rather than listening to the teacher, but the truth is, students are going to text regardless if it's the teacher's rule or not. I agree with the teacher and carrying out her consequences and students need to understand that with every action there is a consequence.

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  15. Texting during class is seen as rude to the professor, peers, and overall shows you as a student that you do not care much about your studies, let alone want to be where you are.

    Do not waste yours or others time!

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  16. I personally, am not a fan of texting in class, however I feel that if a student wants to text in class, that's on them, and they're the one who is missing out on the lecture. I don't allow other people's texting to distract me, but I know some students do, so I understand why most teacher make a rule of no texting in class.

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  17. I think simple messages that require you to glance down a couple times for a few seconds are not a big deal. Writing full blown essays, however, is most likely going to be seen as disrespectful.

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