By Dan Rockmore
The New York Times - June 6, 2014
A colleague of mine in the department of computer science at
Dartmouth recently sent an e-mail to all of us on the faculty. The
subject line read: “Ban computers in the classroom?” The note that
followed was one sentence long: “I finally saw the light today and
propose we ban the use of laptops in class.”
While the sentiment in my colleague’s e-mail was familiar, the source
was surprising: it came from someone teaching a programming class,
where computers are absolutely integral to learning and teaching.
Surprise turned to something approaching shock when, in successive
e-mails, I saw that his opinion was shared by many others in the
department.
My friend’s epiphany came after he looked up
from his lectern and saw, yet again, an audience of laptop covers, the
flip sides of which were engaged in online shopping or social-media
obligations rather than in the working out of programming examples. In a
“Network”-inspired Peter Finch moment, he quickly changed the screen of
his lecture presentation to a Reddit feed and watched some soccer
highlights. That got everyone’s attention.
READ MORE.....
No comments:
Post a Comment