DTC 375 Blog 5 Computers in Class

From the Ifunny Phone App

When it comes to in classroom learning, I feel as if certain technology works best. For me, this is the computer. I am much more comfortable typing notes and assignments than I am writing them out physically in notebook. I know a lot of students feel the same way as I do. However, computers in the classroom cause all sorts of problems. Mostly, if used in a non-academic, way, they can be the cause of distraction not only for the person that is utilizing the computer, but for those around them, and everyone behind them. In my classes, I have seen people make purchases on amazon, book vacations, and even play games. There are images going around the Internet of people going as far as playing game systems in class! 

While I have never actually witnessed that here at our school, and I doubt they would ever get away with it here, I would not be surprised if people have tried. Distractions are not a new problem, as along as there have been students I am sure there have been distractions, but they have been probably easier to contain, and less distracting to those around the distractor. People have always passed notes, or doodled in notebooks, or chatted during class…but those have been easily ignored. Sometimes, a huge deal is made out of the distraction. 

I have one class where the TA sits in the back of the class, and all students using laptops must sit where the TA’s can see the screens. If they are doing anything other than taking notes, then they loose the privilege to use a laptop in class. If enough people are caught, the entire class will loose laptop privileges. In many of my classes, laptops are the only electronic that can be used. Though tablets and smartphones are really common, in many classes I have taken they have been forbidden. The phones I can understand, as you really cannot take notes on them, but the tablets are another story.  When they first appeared a few years ago, they were not that useful for class, and many people I knew would not use them to be productive, the would just mess around with them. now however, many people buy surface tablets that have Microsoft office, and other programs installed on them that make it so they can function the same as a laptop. They even have cases with keyboards that make them function like a laptop as well.
Distractions have always been there, even before the computer. Everybody learns differently, and uses different tools to be successful. In this day and age, there are even more ways to learn than there ever has been before. Despite all of the cons that can surround computer use in class, their pros far outweigh their cons. The allow for a new type of interactive learning.