This is AWESOME!!! Universities handing out iPhones to new students. University of Maryland ROCKS! abc NEWS runs a story on it and its hilarious. The reporter asks this question "Are iPhones useful learning tools or simply goof-off machines?" Clever, eh? <insert ROFL>
Here's a soundbite they used from the cranky old professor [Robert Summers, Cornell Law School]: "...they're pounding away on their laptops rather than listening closely to the content of the arguments and counter arguments."
And then the next guy talks about "policing this". "What we have to do is establish policies...don't do email, don't do video games..."
Are you kidding me? POLICIES! Dude, culture trumps policy. If YOU suck, students will find "arguments and counter arguments" elsewhere...most likely on the Internet using the iPhone OR laptop. If you, the professor, cannot be more engaging than the content on the Internet then why are you wasting your time in the classroom? I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to be practical.
Let's say your students already found a point/counterpoint on the days topic online. Perhaps it was a blog, or even a youtube video. Why not incorporate it into your session? What if I'm in your class and I don't like your point/counterpoint arguments and I quickly post to a live chat room (or better yet, I TWITTER it!) full of other law students from around the world and get their feedback? What if that exchange challenges me to ask YOU a question I had not considered and it adds value to YOUR class session. Are we then not ALL benefitting from the "pounding on the laptop?"
Rest assured that the archaic testing mechanism I'm certain your school has in place will validate whether or not your students understand the materials. So, why do we care if they learn it from you, or from a global community of peers?
So can we all stop blaming technology for "interupting" education? Please!
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BTW - abc NEWS - I am never watching or blogging about your news bits ever again. Your site blows! And FORCING me to watch an ad every time I rewind REALLY pisses me off. bye bye.
Here's a soundbite they used from the cranky old professor [Robert Summers, Cornell Law School]: "...they're pounding away on their laptops rather than listening closely to the content of the arguments and counter arguments."
And then the next guy talks about "policing this". "What we have to do is establish policies...don't do email, don't do video games..."
Are you kidding me? POLICIES! Dude, culture trumps policy. If YOU suck, students will find "arguments and counter arguments" elsewhere...most likely on the Internet using the iPhone OR laptop. If you, the professor, cannot be more engaging than the content on the Internet then why are you wasting your time in the classroom? I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to be practical.
Let's say your students already found a point/counterpoint on the days topic online. Perhaps it was a blog, or even a youtube video. Why not incorporate it into your session? What if I'm in your class and I don't like your point/counterpoint arguments and I quickly post to a live chat room (or better yet, I TWITTER it!) full of other law students from around the world and get their feedback? What if that exchange challenges me to ask YOU a question I had not considered and it adds value to YOUR class session. Are we then not ALL benefitting from the "pounding on the laptop?"
Rest assured that the archaic testing mechanism I'm certain your school has in place will validate whether or not your students understand the materials. So, why do we care if they learn it from you, or from a global community of peers?
So can we all stop blaming technology for "interupting" education? Please!
-------
BTW - abc NEWS - I am never watching or blogging about your news bits ever again. Your site blows! And FORCING me to watch an ad every time I rewind REALLY pisses me off. bye bye.
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