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Technology and Today’s Students
What is the driving forces of students today? Mark Edmundson, professor of English at the University of Virginia, thinks he knows, and he explains what those forces are in his article, “Dwelling in Possibilities: Our students’ spectacular hunger for life makes them radically vulnerable” in the Chronicle of Higher Education. After telling us about meeting with one of his students, Edmundson explains
For his student generation is a singular one, at least in my experience of 30 or so years teaching: Its members have a spectacular hunger for life and more life. They want to study, travel, make friends, make more friends, read everything (superfast), take in all the movies, listen to every hot band, keep up with everyone they’ve ever known. And there’s something else, too, that distinguishes them: They live to multiply possibilities. They’re enemies of closure. For as much as they want to do and actually manage to do, they always strive to keep their options open, never to shut possibilities down before they have to.
Edmundson goes on to argue that the availability of technology and the fear of death resulting from 9/11 are two factors that lead students to go, go go... As a result, Edmundson is making it a policy to not allow laptops in his classroom: “starting this year, no more laptops in my classroom. You can leave them at home. You can check ’em at the door.”
To find out in more detail what Edmundson thinks and why he’s banning laptops from his classroom, go read the whole thing: “Dwelling in Possibilities: Our students’ spectacular hunger for life makes them radically vulnerable.”
What do you think? Is this a good idea? Should laptops be in the classroom? Are students trying to do too much? Are they scattered and multitasking themselves into getting nothing done? Is surfing on the web different from doodling in the margins? Let us know what you think in the comments.
— michael | March 13, 2008 02:17 PM | Something to think about
Comments
I don't know... I think that people in general these days seem to be more busy, and fitting more things in to their schedules than previously. This could be attributed to several things, and I'm not sure if it's because of a "fear of death resulting from 9/11," at least personally (as a very busy and involved student).
I don't necessarily think that banning laptops is the right thing to do, though I understand why he did so. Laptops are useful for people who take notes faster/neater when they're typing, but can be a distraction for other types of students.
Posted by Liana on March 14, 2008 at 02:55 PM
