What is Digg?74 Comments
- Paktu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+58As a college student, I've noticed a direct correlation between the percentage of students in a lecture with laptops and how boring the class is perceived to be.
Just an observation... - boazg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+30laptops happen to be perfect for programming classes. while the proffesor demonstrates something, i can just type it in and test it, and not wait until it's part of the HW, and i no longer remeber what it looked like.
WiFi, is helpful when i run it and it doesn't work, and i now need to google why my professor is a moron :P
i miss the technion :(
maybe with the ceaseFire i can go back today... - TKDWILSON, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28""""""adding that some professors object to wireless Web in classrooms because of students' tendency to "sandbag" faculty or classmates, correcting their information in the middle of class with facts they've found on the Internet."""""
What a stupid professor to believe that! I am a teacher of junior high and I would LOVE my students to have computers and be researching what I am talking about. Imagine the learning that is going on when students are doing that! They are discovering above and beyond what you are teaching and they will never forget what they looked up. A teacher that has his facts wrong should be corrected. I remember correcting a LOT of teachers back in junior high and high school WITHOUT Internet access. I remember on teacher said that the AD timeline started after the death of Christ. That is the only one I remember what it was about, but it happened all the time.
Eric Wilson - SweeterThnEqual, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19I don't know about K-12, but if someone is paying $40,000+ a year for their education and they choose to browse online and ignore their classes, it's their responsibiliy.
- splammo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Whenever I try to bring my laptop to a programming class I inevitably end up reading digg for the whole lecture and not learning anything. But thats probably just me.
- Mambo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17I love how the article points out that teachers don't want to be "sandbaged," aka be corrected when they are wrong.
How could a good teacher honestly complain about being corrected? If they are wrong, they are wrong. Who cares if it was a student that corrected them. - prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Why would students need wifi access to write term papers? And why would they be "finishing homework" in class?
Of course when I was in school, even university computer science courses were conducted entirely with paper and pencil... after we walked uphill in the snow, of course. - halavais, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15As a university professor, I agree. I would love for students to "sandbag" me. Unfortunately, enough of my colleagues dislike students using computers in large lectures that they have successfully lobbied to get rid of WiFi reception in the major classrooms. One huge step backwards, I think.
- TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15"some professors object to wireless Web in classrooms because of students' tendency to "sandbag" faculty or classmates, correcting their information in the middle of class with facts they've found on the Internet."
Isnt the point of school to learn "the facts?" If my students were trying to Sandbag me, that dosent sound right I'd be glad that they were looking for the facts instead of of them being asleep in the back of the class or doing other things that did not include learning. - kaimoku, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10If university students find that WiFi access in the class room is a distraction, then DON'T USE IT! I'm a college student and I hardly ever get my notebook out of it's bag during a lecture because I know I will just browse the web and not pay attention to the task at hand. However, during WWDC last week, I had to know what was happening during the Keynote, so I did what I thought all decent college students who like macs would do; I powered up my notebook, got on IRC and started logging a channel that had updates on the keynote. After about 3 minutes of that I realized I couldn't both watch the text and pay attention to the lecture, so I put the display to sleep and payed attention to the lecture. Afterward, I had all the time in the world to read the log without having to be interrupted by people's comments about what was presented.
The point is, for universities, the students pay money to be there, and the school shouldn't feel it's their duty to make sure the students get what they pay for. Best Buy never calls me to see if my recent purchases are still performing as expected, why should universities care about what the students do with their money? As long as the student doesn't watch YouTube videos as loud as possible without headphones (or anything else that distracts even one person) the university shouldn't care what the student does during lecture. It's only a problem when one student's action's creates a problem for any other student (or professor.) - TalenKlaive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Heh, I go to a school that routinely puts us through 4 and sometimes 8 hour lectures in courses that have a mandatory 90% attendance policy. Laptops and wireless are the only thing keeping me sane.
- TVarmy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Maybe they use Writely or need to do some research.
- geoffpado, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Agree 100%. I'm going to college next year, and if it's anywhere near the police state that my high school is, I'm going to be pissed.
- halavais, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Generally, I agree. If you can't engage the audience, then that's not their fault.
That said, the complaints I get are from students who WANT to engage in the lecture, but have some guy sitting right in front of them playing YouTube videos. I don't care if students want to distract themselves, but sometimes it messes with students who are trying to concentrate. - kd1s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Being that I have a degree in Info Sci, I had lots of lab classes. All network connected PC's and yes, they were just rolling out wireless access too.
In many cases I corrected professors simply because what they were spouting from the book no less, was wrong. You wouldn't believe the sub-par quality of college textbooks. You can tell they were written by committee.
But by far the best part of having a network connection in the labs was that you could look at the powerpoint slides, download em', etc. for the class, then once you'd done that you could surf the web, chat with friends, etc. Used to be funny in a class that had lecture where you'd hear a dozen or so people typing away in bursts, IM's. - cap11235, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeiREkj0Se8
- TheSource, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5How could the author not include instant messaging as one of the serious problems with WiFi in classrooms? My university is completely wireless, meaning that ever square inch of the campus has wireless internet access. The biggest problem I've seen isn't just browsing the web, it's chatting with friends. That's also far more distracting than scouring the web to make your professor look like a dick.
- Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6'"If you just stick these things in lectures it obviously isn't going to work," Gay says.'
Maybe if lectures were not so boring, the students wouldn't be distracted.
Hmm...? - chapium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I loathe wireless in the classrooms. I can see the potential for it to enhance the classroom experience, but everyone I see in there is chatting on MSN or bouncing around facebook/myspace. Its very distracting. I purposely avoid sitting behind them to stay focused on whats going on in the class.
I think I could live with wifi-free classrooms that allowed laptops. - techlinks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Well, I'm not in college yet so I can't really comment, but, from what other people have said I think it's good to have the wifi for one thing, that is, the students being able to research in "real-time" and correct teachers (which needs to be done a lot I find). But on the other hand, there is always going to be the people who slack off and surf digg or something.
Then again, they're always going to find a way to slack off, guess if they want to waste their parents thousands of dollars.
LOLipops! - ElectroBot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4For university/college the professor should have the ability to turn off access to the internet with 3 settings:
1) turn off all wifi/ethernet access (in the classroom)
2) turn on access to the university's network (internal webpage, school email and network shares)
3) turn on unlimited (not bandwidth, but rather unfiltered) internet access
This should be implemented with either a key or a "paging-like switch" (think grade school pa system) that the prof has access to from the front of the class.
This way when the prof is done the lecture or wants to show something online he can do so and when he wants the student's full attention he can get rid of the "wifi distraction". - monofonik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I was at school the other day getting my registration business sorted out. I was having a conversation with my friend about wifi in classrooms. I was of the opinion that it should be there, because if you ***** off and read Digg the whole time it's really your own fault if you fail a course. He said that the school needs students to get good grades, and thus should keep an eye on certain things that may impede them from doing so. We came to the agreement that web should be there, but IM should probably be blocked.
Imagine how nice it could be to be able to search wikipedia or about.com for stuff your Prof mentions that you don't know about, on the fly. - bobbygeorgina, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The high school I went to got a government grant to put a laptop in the hands of all the students. My senior year in high school was quite interesting...the school and government put millions of dollars into the biggest distraction the school has ever seen.
The computers (iBooks) were recalled models that the school some how picked up from Apple. According to student polls taken about 98% of students used the computers more for non-school work than for school work. Looking around the class rooms or lecture halls I would see people playing chess, playing games, browsing the internet than I ever saw actually taking notes. GPAs actually dropped. - VMark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Last year was my senior year and I made myself leave my laptop at home when going to class. I simply would just find myself surfing around and totally ignoring the lecture. Even when I would type out the notes it didn't seem to sink in as much as when I would write them down by hand.
- mcflynnthm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I used my laptop in class in college, mostly because 1) it's harder to doodle (and thus not pay attention) in Word, 2) I could actually READ the notes I took afterwards, and 3) NES emulator for boring, freshman-level classes taken in my last year to fill requirements.
- Crypty, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I definitely want wifi access included with my insanely expensive tuition cost. We don't need to be babied at the age of 18+. Real time researching is nice. Also the ability to tend to other things and manage your time freely. If at an english lecture, and I need to be working on a something else, I should be able to do that.
If someone doesn't pay attention and looks at whatever on the net, that's their problem, and they will suffer the consequences both in college, and in their future career. - HyperNexus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I see this in several of my class and think it is a bit of a problem. It all really comes down to the student, if they want to learn then they will pay attention, if they don't then they are wasting thier own time.
- mikenemat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm all about rolling your own :D
I am in university now, but in my last year of high school, I hid a WRT54g running DD-WRT in the back of one of the computer carts in a teacher's office. It cost me $25 off of ebay so not a big loss if I got caught. I did reclaim it sucessfully at the end of the year and it served its purpose. I disabled SSID broadcast to effectively hide it from average students. I could only get a signal from the cafeteria and maybe 10% of my classes. It may have just been teh weak reception of my dell axim x51v, but nonetheless, was worth it. - prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"If at an english lecture, and I need to be working on a something else, I should be able to do that."
Then leave and go do that. Sheesh. Universities don't take roll call.. if you aren't going to pay attention, don't bother showing up.
You guys are going to be screwed when you have to sit in meetings and pay attention for an hour or two about something that doesn't even concern you. - LouisC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't see the big deal. The kids who aren't serious, are gonna go on myspace and do their crap there instead of falling asleep on their desk or listening to their ipod through their hoodie or just simply not paying attention. The kids who are serious are gonna listen, take notes on their computer, and do things that are productive. Wifi doesn't change anything. Slackers will always be slackers :)
- rkettner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think his point was... why are they working on homework in the classroom. The whole point is to do it at "home".
- NSMike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At the English department where I went to college, they had a cart full of laptops with its own wi-fi signal. It was a literary theory class, and the exercise was a test the professor had found online that showed some photos of just the eyes of a person, and we had to determine what their emotional state was by looking at the eyes. After I finished the test, I started browsing the web, and I had been having a rather heated argument with some people on the class's blackboard discussion board, so I checked to see who had responded since the night before, and started writing up a response. Class eventually resumed, and I kept typing away... Then I realized everyone else had closed their laptops. I can see how easily this can be a distraction, even though I was doing something at least remotely related to class.
- ziadoz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wireless will help those who are really interested in the subject look things up on Google, even add things to an online note taking website. Those who abuse the service won't pass the class, so is wireless to blame for this or the students lack of will power and enthusiasm?
- darkinferno9908, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm sad to say that my university doesn't even have wireless. We have computers in most of our rooms but quite a bit of the classes I'm taking aren't in any of those rooms. All of our classes are 4+ hours so it get's really boring...
I wish we had wifi to visit digg during accounting...or during java so I can translate what my teacher is saying. - boazg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@talenklaive
sounds painful!
at this point i miss most of my lectures, as most proffesors are oh so boring! - Cerberus047, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was thinking how funnny it would be if a goatse picture popped out when they were all watching that video....
Im a sick person i know - MrBilly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I like to look at both sides of the argument for and against WI-Fi access. I go (went) to Pacific Lutheran University in WA, and I have dealt with both sides of the issue. For my first 3 years of undergrad studies, WI-FI access was incredibly spotty around campus- especially in the antiquated Admin building where most of the business classes were held. It was very frustrating as our professors used E-Course by blackboard to submit articles for discussion and post assignments.
It would have been very useful to Be able to access this service in class simply for the ability to look up course information, download PowerPoint, or check out dues dates (sync with google calender). I personally found it to be a great advantage to have my laptop handy in Econ classes and Stats where I would use my laptop for notes.
the professor would talk very quickly, and usually I could type at a decent speed, but could not enter graphs and formulas into Word very efficiently. Sophomore year, I traded my laptop for a tablet and it changed my world. With he tablet I could now take econ notes, make graphs within the notes and color-code all sorts of stats variables, equations, and other things in an instant. I suddenly had a great purpose for WI-Fi in that I could immediately send notes to others in class, record the lecture, or look up information. However, the Wi-Fi spots were still lacking.
Other times, in International Marketing, our teacher had us look on line for research on projects, changing international laws, and get tons of geographical data for research. Getting to use Google and the Government Patent Database as he was speaking was instrumental in my education in the world in real-time. (Luckily these classes were taught in 1 of the two computer labs in the building). Therefore, without WI-FI access in my other classrooms, I felt the frustration even further.
I essentially felt that my education was not reaching its full potential because of my limited access to information- especially after seeing how the web could be implemented for real purposes. I thought at the time, that Wi-Fi access was a necessity for continuing proper education. Paying almost $100,000 over my college life certainly (as I thought) must include the latest technology. I'll admit, I was a little biased after seeing the facilities at DeVry with web-access and technology in every class room on a tour I had taken previously.
However, my perspective began to change over the next 2 years. This year, PLU opened the center for Learning Technology. This center has everything- it runs on geothermal energy, is made of recycled materials, each room has a full presentation package complete with high resolution projectors and cameras in every room as well as 3 computer labs with every sort of media suite known to man. Wi-Fi access was everywhere (although there was a coating put on the windows of the building that contained the signal within the building as well as completely blocked all cell phone reception within the building). 2 classrooms even had computer stations in them for every student with covered screens. How did this change my perspective?
One I had everything- always connected, it was tough. Yes, I had finally got then technology I wanted. Full connectivity from any location. But It came at a price. I realized that I could correct professors at any point simply with a few clicks. I also realized looking around me that I was sitting in a multi-million dollar building paid for with my tuition. There in lies the argument for the Universities: Students are demanding technology- especially in business and computer sciences where the most up-to date technology is imperative to remain competitive in the education world. Not only does technology help education by giving resources to the student, but It allows communication on levels never before seen with staff and faculty. Further, it makes the school more appealing to any prospective student if reinforced with a good educational program.
I then noticed that I got at least what I was paying or in the technology sense. However, now that I had the means it was up to me to decide how I used my time. PLU apparently worked up to about $66 and hours give or take. That being said, I was PAYING to go their for my education. Did this deter me from waisting time on YouTube, Myspace, Digg, Wikipedia, or Ebay? Yes- to an extent. However, I had to realize that I got all I wanted from them- the rest was up to me.
Interestingly, I let more productive in my last year. I was more productive because I used information from the web and communicated directly with the professor on the Internet using Wi-Fi and the net in general. Yes, I was distracted during lectures surfing the Internet or doing other class work, but I believe that the net effect was good overall that I had net access. $66 an hour. Were others distracted by my activities? Did they pay the same amount? Absolutely. Is it fair to them to distract them? Absolutely not.
What of my own education. I, just like many other students across the country paid them for my education. Read- I paid them for their time. Why should they care if I fail my classes? Consider this- of a large amount of students get "c" averages or even fail class, place low on tests (which are particularly important in business schools), how does this affect their perception as a good school? Low test scores and student performance make the school less appealing, which attracts fewer high caliber professors, which means that it lowers the experience for all students and prospective students.
True, it was MY education. But MY education was dependent on the students' before me
educational performance and experience. If everyone chose to just saw "This is MY education and it does not matter what everyone else does with their time" they are severely mistaken. Schools reputations, enrollment, and caliber of education all depend on those students that went there before them. Had the People before me wasted time, got horrible scores on tests, and lowered PLUs rank, I would not have chosen to go there or any other school that did the same.
These are the questions that Universities face. I once was completely for Wi-Fi all over the place in school, but now I realize after weighing both sides that the only real answer is that it has its place in education. Students will be burdened with the decision of determining just how much they use it to enhance or hinder their education. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3this one time we were looking for the wavelength of sodium light and the lab was awfully pain in the ass. so we hoped on the PSP and got the answer and reverse engineered it.
- BlackLineFish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I concur, I would love to be "sand bagged" by a student with the right facts. Sometimes it would be a good experience finding out about the source of the correction (eg empirical study published on Google-Scholar VS some article on Wikipedia). The best part about instruction is to learn how to handle things like WI-FI - because it isn't going to stop.
Last semester I employed a technology that allowed students to enter responses on keypads to interact more with the class and instructor. It was not a pleasant experience and I am putting that on hold. But if that technology happens to take off, then I will have to adapt to it eventually.
PowerPoint had the opposite reaction - students loved it so much they begged the non-PP faculty to employ it, or write disparaging comments on evaluations about use of technology. Unfortunately, PowerPoint is not for everyone. The test? How often does the instruction mutter: "If you didn't get that down, don't worry. I have the PP file online and you can get it later, I have to move on..."
If I were instructing a class that was WIFI enabled, I would randomly put up URLs in the lecture. Yes, one in five would be a joke URL - and that would get the students going.
--gh - thomasprebble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1While this wasn't exactly WiFi we did have an interesting experience with a teachers Blue Tooth enabled laptop in one HCI lecture. As he was yammering on about god knows what people were sending messages to his laptop which were of course beamed up on screen for all to see. Took him a few minutes to realise what all the laugher was about.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Students "know too much" and colleges are getting pissed because they get profit from ignorance.
Deja vu, french inquisition. - yonman14, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2My high school attempted to integrate technology with the curriculum. The experiment failed after 5 years, students just wouldn't pay attention during class. No matter how many attempts they made to block playing games or instant messaging, we would find ways bypass them.
That being said, college students should be treated as adults. In real life, many students will be working at a computer, which will present a constant distraction. I don't think a university should treat these students as our high school treated us. - dbrodbeck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If people browse queitly I could care less. As long as they don't dsitract me or their fellow students. They do that they can leave. It is as simple as that. (At least in my classes).
- DrGonzo1184, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How are you sending messages to him over bluetooth without him confirming a pairing with your device?
- mfratt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The first 6 or so months of using a computer in the classroom (sophmore year in HS), I was distracted. After that, the urge to "be distracted" mostly wore off.
- CosmicBratt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I got a laptop in the middle of the year and my GPA jumped from 3.92 in the first semester to 4.0 in the second. :D
I had one really demanding class and I managed to ace it, wi-fi and all. The prof spoke really fast and assumed we knew things we didn't, as it was the first time they offered the class to people outside the major. My laptop made it so much easier to follow and write detailed notes, as well as adding links to websites the prof talked about and ones she linked in her power points. It was impossible for me to even try and surf sites that weren't class-related.
Of course that I was on MSN/facebook/whatever in some other classes, but I'm usually in the front row and hate people behind me seeing what I write. Besides, I actually prefer some classes without my laptop/internet. It makes me miss things and I don't trust people in my class to take notes that are as good as mine. :P Wow, i'm revealing my geeky-ness. I'm on the internet way too much anyways, so do I really have to do it in class? (keep in mind i've been away from a lecture for almost 4 months, wait til school starts again..:P) That being said, I'd be pissed if it weren't available..it comes in handy sometimes. ...though I really find that I remember notes that I write in my own handwriting more than ones I type up.
/endnovel. - DarthFredd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The "Wifi in classrooms" shouldn't be a problem: if students don't pay attention, their grades will suffer. If they can get surf the web and still get the grades they want, more power to them.
Students shouldn't be treated like children: they're paying money to be there. The only place this is an issue in is highschool, as students are often wasting the public's money, rather then their own.
At my college (Neumont University) there are an abundance of Wifi nodes and everyone is issued a laptop. If a proffessor thinks students are not paying attention, he quietly reminds them that they are paying $10,000 a quarter to the be there, and they had better get their money's worth.
Then again, NU is not your typical university, and reviles the "college experience" mindset schools like Harvard and Yale have. The NU goal is to produce an experience software developer, not a post-college kid who "knows and understands himself, and his beliefs". Wifi is a tool, and like all tools, can be misused. - GrendelT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I think high schools should implement student ID based registration for their wireless devices. The instructor can turn on/off the class' internet access via a script on their computer. Since the school computers know which class each student is in (or should know), then it's just a matter of the teachers setting access times for each student. If the student is suffering academically, maybe turn off their wireless altogether.
I'm a secondary ed. major (will teach high school) and I plan to implement something like this, IT-willing. I plan to ask for a computer lab free from IT control, and a network jack to the net. Give me that and I think I can handle the rest. Wireless auth., user accts, etc. - ElectroBot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The problem with any registration/database is that people make mistakes and students could also be monitored this way.
As for having the access controlled through a piece of software (bored students with computer knowledge == hackers; networks are created and maintained by people and people make mistakes; other unforseen issues) - Dubie556, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't see how this is even a problem. If you want to play around on the Internet instead of listening to a lecture...do it...or even better, just don't go to class. Its not like people are being forced to go to college; the education only returns what you put into it. In that sense, baning wireless Internet in classes is counterproductive. Any tool that helps students understand or relate the material in a more efficient way is worth whatever drawbacks come with it. If as a college student, which I am, you can't handle the "distractions" of Internet surfing during class, I weep for how distracted you'll be in the business world.
If as a professor, you feel its your duty to teach, I want to be in your class. If as a professor, you feel you need to force students to learn and avoid distraction, I need to avoid you and you need to go teach high school. -
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