After reading the article “Rethinking My Cell Phone/Computer Policy”, I would have to say there are some things I agreed and disagreed with. While I do agree with phones being a distraction, college students are young adults in the making, therefore I feel we have the free will and right to learn self-control pertaining to phone usage within the classroom. All while the cellphone and laptop being ours that we paid for, when a professor feels entitled to tell us what to do with them, students may dissociate and lose respect.
I understand the desire to implement pure focus and engagement amongst the students; however if a professor threatens to ban technology, more than likely the students will be inattentive. Since technology is taking over and it’s how we write, read, share, and gain data. Students engage more with it because it’s what we’re accustomed to and generally what is required of us when completing assignments.
I would have to say the approach and communication of the professor matters. Instead of implementing a technology ban, professors should be open-minded to having a conversation with the class. For example, like how we did in the beginning of the semester about the syllabus. If professors express in a respectful tone the approach they would like to take and what they hope for students to gain, I believe students would be more open to coming up with a compromised policy. Something to be remembered is we are college students, this isn’t like middle or high school. We are young adults and are expected to be treated like ones therefore should be given a certain level of trust.
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