Allowing electronic devices in class can be a very tricky thing but, at the same time, restricting usage might only anger ones’ students and cause them to rebel by not listening or just generally being angry. I mean, that Rate My Professor score is definitely going to be impacted by the rules that a professor sets in college- especially if they’re stupid or treat college adults as if they’re stupid and unsophisticated. I get it, I get not wanting to let a student, of any age, have access to their phone or laptop or tablet because it can be distracting and cause a student to lose interest in the matter at hand. I understand that Warner, in his “Rethinking My Cell Phone/Computer Policy” article, thinks that students might just completely disregard him and his lesson if they have access to technology. Warner brings up the point that lessons should be engaging and intriguing enough to appeal to students and steer them away from the temptations of technology. I think Warner brings up a valid point about setting rules with students regarding technology and informing his students that social media can wait. I get his concerns, I do but at the same time, any kind of restriction on technology will only enable students to want to use it more, especially those of a younger age range. It’s completely up to the teacher/professor to create a lesson that appeals to students and doesn’t consist of just reading off of slides because, regardless of whether technology is allowed or not, a boring lesson almost guarantees that a student isn’t paying attention. I was in a college class before in which the professor banned technology and believed that pen and paper was the most efficient, memory inducing way to take notes. Well, she read directly off of slides and went way too fast for anybody to write down anything of importance therefore nobody paid full attention. I might’ve had no access to technology but I promise that didn’t stop me from being distracted and just not caring. I was drawing squiggles in my notebook and just thinking of anything other than class. To add the icing on top of the cake, practically the entire class failed her tests. I think this just goes to prove technology isn’t going to be the biggest distractor or what leads students to fail- that’s on the teacher, the teacher needs to make a lesson of substance and have trust in their students. Trust is key in the beginning of gaining the interest of students.
Hearing that there have been literal studies conducted regarding the negatives of multitasking and how it can damage a person’s brain and lead them to basically sound stupid and uneducated is very disheartening. I multitask a lot. I multitask literally all of the time- it’s literally the only way that I can get things done. Travis Bradberry, in his “Multitasking Damages Your Brain And Career, New Studies Suggest” article, states that completing one task at a time is significantly more beneficial than doing multiple tasks at once due to the strain and difficulty of recalling and retaining certain information. He states that multitasking can lower a person’s and damage their brain density. Learning this has definitely stressed me out a bit because multitasking is the only way that I can ensure that I get things done. I have definitely found myself struggling at times and not making a lot of sense when multitasking but that’s not a majority of the time- I feel as if my work comes out pretty good when multitasking, it just depends on the setting. I don’t fully believe in everything that the article is saying because I’ve been multitasking for years and I don’t think I write or speak like a complete idiot or like a toddler. I am most likely not going to stop multitasking because I don’t have time to do just one thing at a time- that’s not realistic.
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