rom: "Lou Hafer" <lou@sfu.ca>
To: academic-discussion@sfu.ca
Sent: Friday, July 5, 2013 11:48:33 AM
Subject: Re: Competing with Iphones
Folks,
I look at this as a matter of consumer choice. Students can choose
to listen and learn, or not. If they can learn without listening to me,
that's fine too. I give them a grade that matches their choice.
I'm sympathetic to the `distracts others' notion, but I also know
that concentration in the face of distractions is a valuable skill. No
better time to learn than now.
Public embarrassment seems to be the most effective way to deal
with students who are doing something (typically involving talking) that
is actively disruptive. I stop talking and wait until the person notices
that I (and the rest of the class :-) are staring at them. It doesn't
take long. Repeat offenders are extremely rare; they get asked to leave,
immediately. It's been years since I've had to do that.
In all seriousness, I see this as a societal problem. And I surely
do not want a student with the attention span of a hamster writing the
control software that runs nuclear reactors and keeps airplanes in the
sky. The most effective thing I can do to prevent that is fail the
student, with their help.
Lou