Jeffry Ricker wrote:
I noticed that, after I began to clamp down on cell-phone
interruptions, students simply increased their use of semaphore-flag
communication, which (at least to me) seems a bit more distracting
than ringing cell phones.
I'd forbid the use of flag-based communication devices but I'm afraid
that, if I do this, the students simply will switch to using Morse
code and telegraphs. I just know that the clickety-clackety sounds
will drive me nuts. I don't know what to do!
Aronson hit the nail right on the head when he referred to us as "the
social animal."
Jeff
I like this. We could also cut the strings of their can-to-can
communications out the window, but the real problem is whether or not
they are showing interest in the class as opposed to alternatively
communicating with others. Cell phone lapses by students are usually
just like our own ... lapses in remembering to turn them off. They are
rarely indications of an insulting desire to communicate with peers
instead of attending to the class material.
I have not made any explicit rules in my syllabus about phones. I have
had a few cell phones go off in class. They are almost always turned off
by an embarrased student. The one exception in my experience when a cell
phone was deliberately left on and a call was made during class was when
a student was waiting for notification of the death of a terminally ill
family member.
What are we going to do about Blackberry's? Either the attention of a
student is with you in class or it is not. Demanding the attention by
rules or syllabus legislation against technology use is not going to get
that attention.
Bill Scott
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