I just stumbled across an interesting photo originally posted on Gizmodo. Their title was ‘Are Computers Ruining Education?’ which of course catches the eye but it’s really not the story. While there may be an influx of computer in classrooms these days … it’s nothing new. There are countless 1:1 classrooms now. It’s all in how those computers are used.
The above photo was taken by a medical school student and it’s obviously a med school class (note the x-rays on the screen in the front of class). But are students all paying attention? It appears that most are using the same type of program and it’s likely one dedicated to their school or class. The picture, to me, is not controversial because students are all looking at different things.
The picture is more interesting to me because of the sheer volume of computers in the classroom. Most graduate schools require or demand a laptop or tablet these days so it’s not very surprising to hear that this is a med school. But my real question is: is this now a typical classroom? Do all students NEED laptops? Do all grad students NEED laptops? What would the view from the front of the classroom (from the teacher’s perspective) look like? A lot less distracting perhaps?
What do you think? Are there too many laptops in classrooms? Are we effectively leveraging the power of them to ensure a high-quality education is had by all?
It looks as if most of the students in the front are paying attention, but you can see that one of the students in the back has Youtube up, while others are on Facebook. Students NEED laptops, but I wouldn’t say that all students need their laptops while in the classroom. Laptops in class is the equivalent to a phoneor any other device similar to that. Papers need to be written on laptops, and some classes use them, but teachers need to be able to moderate what students do inside the classroom on their computers because the laptops deter their learning if they’re abused.
Nice photo from Gizmodo, I aggry with you that we are not effectively leveraging. as you see the ppt the slide shown in the main screen and on the other laptops are totally different . students are not focused on the topic. if you want to give some practical knowledge for that they should be attentive in classroom. But through this kind teaching methodology they can”t learn any thing.
I was teaching in a Singapore university which every student had a laptop. At the break I walked over to speak with two of my students from the subcontinent. They were watching a cricket game from India. The game was in day two of a three day set.
I don’t see this as a problem. The laptop and software are simply another tool to help the students learn.
Interestingly, when viewing this picture I couldn’t help but thinking of how the concept of the ‘second screen’ has now taken shape within the classroom setting.
The classroom is still based on a student-teacher structure whereas behaviour and technology has moved to a network structure. We are used to multiple information and communication sources simultaneously. Hierarchies are stable until they are reconfigured. Networks can evolve organically are more complex flexible and influence is based on value to the system not ‘position’. My thought is what is the purpose of the teacher? An organism doesn’t need a teacher. The interaction of its DNA with the environment around it determines its behaviour.
“Networks can evolve organically are more complex flexible and influence is based on value to the system not ‘position’”
What?
Thanks for posting Jeff. I think it is less about does every student need a laptop and more about how do laptops (or technology) fit into what is happening overall eg. what the instructor is teaching and the layout of the space. The space has allowed for large screens to be hung so as everyone has a “front of class” seat, if the instructor was considering that all of the students have taken their laptops into the class why doesn’t he/she ask for some immediate responses/feeds via their laptops to the screens? It is important that technology is a part of the “new” classroom but not just for the sake of it.
I’m reminded of this research study – http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131512001236
“However, there was a correlation between exam performance and note taking preference: paper note takers scored significantly higher and laptop users scored significantly lower than predicted by pre-class academic indicators (p < 0.01, paired t-test)."
Further research is required, but still an interesting study.
This is one kind of high end classroom and I liked it a lot. This is how future classrooms are going to be. I am sure the students will be really competitive in the market when they will come outside to work and they will have high-level knowledge about technology.