Internet access, especially to Wikipedia, did wonders for me whenever the lecture turned to something I was already familiar with. That alone kept me from getting distracted and frustrated as I would in classes whose professors prohibited laptop use.
Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
181–190 of 255 posts
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#182If students aren’t engaged, they aren’t going to become star pupils once you take away their distractions. Perhaps kids attend more lectures than before knowing that they can always listen in while futzing with other things (and otherwise, they may skip some of the classes entirely). The lecture format is what needs changing. You need a reason to go to class, and there was nothing worse than a professor showing slide…
I would say that the lecture model works, but only when specific preconditions are met: 1) Eager learners who have reflected on the same material before coming in, to the extent that they know the gaps in their understanding. 2) A lecturer who is above the students' level (on the material) and willing/able to answer arbitrary questions about the topic. 3) Students keeping up and asking questions to ensure that they s…
Almost anything works with eager learners. They learn in spite of the bad teaching methods. They are the best candidates to be autodidacts.
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
I took a two pass approach: hand written notes (I can write equations faster than I can LaTeX them) and then follow up by writing a LaTeX document for each lecture. I had a rule that I wasn't allowed to continue typing up until I understood how each step in the derivation was made. If it was non-obvious, I'd write textbook-style comments around things to explain how to get from line to the next. Worked pretty well fo…
You typeset all your lecture notes? I'm not sure this would benefit a student. Something I wish I did when I was in school is download the solutions manuals and work problems. I considered that cheating when I was in school but now I think it is just being time effective.
Horses for courses, as it were. I both wrote (in lecture) and typeset (at home). I spent a lot of time trying to optimise the revision process. All I can say is that it worked for me and I got a good grade.
Typesetting gave me a set of digital, neat lectures notes (goodbye folders of paper). I also understood everything better because I'd read through it twice. Most importantly it was good bargaining material for skipping lectures and getting notes from other people.
I also flash-carded all my lectures in 3rd/4th year which undoubtedly bumped my grade up. The key was timing it so your peak recall was at the exam, given the volume of information. It was useless for long term memory though.
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#184Any research that takes students as an homogenic group is flawed. People can be (more or less) in about one of the 7 different types of learning styles https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/.
So making claims like "doing X works better than Y" is meaningless without pointing to a specific learning style.
That's why you hear people defending writing to paper, while others prefer just hearing the lectures or others have better performance while discussing with peers (and some hate all of the other interactions and can perform better by isolating and studying on your own... which is probably the one who will benefit the most of having a laptop available).
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#185Any research that takes students as an homogenic group is flawed. People can be (more or less) in about one of the 7 different types of learning styles https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/ . So making claims like "doing X works better than Y" is meaningless without pointing to a specific learning style. That's why you hear people defending writing to paper, while others prefer just hearing the lectures or…
Learning styles are have been debunked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions#...
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#186Any research that takes students as an homogenic group is flawed. People can be (more or less) in about one of the 7 different types of learning styles https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/ . So making claims like "doing X works better than Y" is meaningless without pointing to a specific learning style. That's why you hear people defending writing to paper, while others prefer just hearing the lectures or…
Learning styles are have been debunked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions#...
debunked is a hard word for "hey, lack of peer review":
"... Coffield's team found that none of the most popular learning style theories had been adequately validated through independent research." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles
sounds more like lack of funding than pseudoscience.
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#187Oh, okay, I thought the study was going to be on the benefits of attempting to use the laptop itself for classroom purposes, not for social media distractions. This would be more accurately titled, "Students Are Better Off Without Distractions in the Classroom." Though I suppose, it wouldn't make a very catchy headline. I found my laptop to be very beneficial in my classroom learning during college, but only when I m…
>I opened up a word processor, focused my eyes on the professor's slides or visual aids, and typed everything I saw There are studies that show that verbatim computer note taking is actually inferior to remembering the lecture content: A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret...
Apparently writing in cursive is superior to non-cursive when it comes to remembering what you wrote down too. That being said I take notes on my laptop all the time just because I like having everything stored in one place, backed up, organized, etc..
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a naive and harmful view of self-control. You can love something to pieces, yet still find yourself unable to do it, merely because the draw of the internet is too powerful. We are not optimized to deal with the stimulus of the internet. I have found that unfettered access to it is reducing life quality, and I'm not waiting for twenty double-blind peer-reviewed studies to show this obvious reality. It is much…
By this logic, all humans are incapable of performing any task due to the existence of the internet. Some yearn for a simpler time, when all humans were incapable of performing any task due to the existence of television, radio, books, friends, meteorology, the opposite sex, or beer. But if you would rather be distracted by trees and bugs, remarkable vistas and epic adventures, feel free to continue using this narrat…
Isn't that merely the slippery slope fallacy?
Firstly, the internet does not permanently and completely eliminate our agency, it reduces our agency due to the fallible nature of self-control.
Secondly, all of the other activities you listed do not reduce our agency to the extent that the internet does. Some things are more addictive than others. To claim that meteorology and the internet have the same risk to our agency is absolutely absurd.
Thirdly, establishing distance from the internet (e.g. not involving computers when they aren't necessary, using the computer at the library instead of keeping one at home, adding restrictions to a smartphone or using a dumbphone) is not the same as giving it up altogether.
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or just log out of any social media. No need to turn off the internet.
Or simply exercise some self-control, and do not visit social media while you are working, studying, or otherwise occupied. If you hate what you're doing so much, that you have to do something so unhealthy as locking yourself in isolation to perform the task, you probably shouldn't do it. Listen to yourself, and go do what you want to do instead.
Self-control is cognitively expensive. Our short-term impulses rarely align with our long-term goals. There's a surprisingly small intersection between the set of things that feel good right now and the set of things that contribute to a happy and fulfilled life.
Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
#190In what universe would it be a good idea for students use laptops in class?
Use of digital devices should be limited because the very use of digital devices separates us from what is going on around us. Students should listen and take notes (in a notebook) as necessary.