Laptops in the Classroom--Blessing or Curse?

The Vision (with a capital V): A wi-fi campus. A laptop in the hands of every student. A learning environment without walls. Every student instantly able to bring to bear computing power to enhance learning.

The reality: Something different. True, those laptops are proliferating in classrooms like dollars in Bill Gates' bank account. But, it's how they're being used that is bringing dismay to faculty.

My story: Last week I referred to the San Antonio Spurs to illustrate a point in my 300 student economics class. As soon as the Spurs were mentioned, a student in the third row instantly swiveled his laptop around to show me a picture of one of the Spurs players in action. "Aha," said I. "So this is what you're doing all class period." It turns out that he's not the only one.

Dennis Adams, professor at the University of Houston, gives his take on the distractive power of the laptop in the classroom:

You can be in the front of the classroom and your hair could catch on fire and they'll never see it because their eyes are glued to the 14-inch screen at the end of their nose.

The backlash: Block wi-fi access in classrooms.

The negative side effect: Neighboring offices' access to the network is accidently blocked.

The backlash, part II: Ban or limit the use of laptops by students in the classroom.

The problem: Students respond with unkind comments about the instructor on student surveys.

My perspective: There have always been distractions that pull student attention away from the topic at hand. In the old days, little Johnny would dip Susie's pigtail in the inkwell, setting off a howl from Susie. Then there were the entertaining spitball fights in the back of the room. More recently, the ringing of cell phones has not exactly been music to the ears of students and professors.

Laptops are another in a long line of distractions.

My suggestion: Confront the issue of classroom laptop use with students early, such as on the syllabus. A laptop might be a good tool to use to take notes in class or to use in applying computing power to classroom assignments. The problem is when it's used for extraneous purposes.

That's nothing new. When I was in the seventh grade I got called by a teacher for doodling. Misuse of a pencil was the crime. It just proves that instructors have always had a difficult time getting learners to pay attention.

QuickTake: Beware the Cyberbully!

There's always something new to worry about when it comes to technology. Whether it's a hard drive crashing or a new computer virus, the information superhighway has its fair share of potholes.

Here's a new pothole to consider:

We are all familiar with school bullies,” said Parry Aftab, a lawyer who specialises in internet privacy. “Cyberbullying is the online equivalent. It is any kind of harassment, insult or humiliation that uses internet-related technology.

Here's an example:

At a Boston school recently, several students were disciplined for creating a lewd website about a teenage girl’s supposed sexual activities. The site included her name, photograph and phone number. In New York a 14-year-old girl who foolishly sent her boyfriend a camera phone picture of herself topless was mortified when he posted it on a website used by everyone at their school.

My university has a policy describing appropriate use of computer technology. I haven't looked at it recently, but I think it addresses cyberbullying, at least indirectly. The question is whether the cyberbully lurking inside some people knows about the policy, and the punishment that comes from violating it.