Cellphones in Class! ARGHH!

[Karajan]

What do you do if, after several reminders, students in your class still won't put their cellphones away?  It's on the syllabus, I've said it in class a few times, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to start asking people to leave the room!  I don't want to be a mean guy, but it's really disruptive, not to mention disrespectful.

 

Thoughts?

[rising_star]

You stop talking until they put the phone away. Or, you tell them if it's that important, they should get up, handle it outside, and come back when they're done. Or, you could be like me and just ignore it unless it is egregious. I very rarely tell my students to put up their phones because some of them are actually using them to look up course-related things. When it becomes obvious that they aren't, I remind them to pay attention or change up what we're doing (from lecture to discussion or from discussion to small group work etc.) if it's boredom causing them to reach for the phone. I used to be a no phones at all ever person but I realized that it's one of those rules that I don't care about in the long run. If they don't want to pay attention, that's fine. I encourage them not to use their phones but don't penalize them or call them out unless they're being obnoxious or distracting their classmates. YMMV obviously.

[Between Fields]

Hm. Well, it annoys me on a deep level, but I usually let it go. As my supervisor says, this year's freshmen and all succeeding freshmen will never have not had a cellphone; they have a difficult time putting it down because it's so ingrained in their lives. That doesn't make it okay for them to use them, but it does make our jobs significantly harder if we try to intervene in that. I teach mostly through discussion, and so I can usually get the cellphones to go away by calling on people who are using them. It's easier when you're in a circle. Otherwise, I just make it known that they're responsible for anything I say in class (pithy or not) and that I take that into account while I'm grading.

[hashslinger]

I have the most draconian anti-cellphone policies of anyone I know. So far this semester, most students have been respecting the rules. A few haven't been. I haven't really gone off on those who still like to diddle; I'd like to, but I worry it would just derail the whole class, the vast majority of which is paying attention and learning, and I don't want to wreck that by ratcheting up the tension. 

 

So I just quietly mark them down.

 

It's sad to say, but when I first started teaching about 4 years ago, it was MUCH easier to control cell phones. Now it's become part of the culture to the extent that people feel a need to check their cell phones every where they go and can't fathom why they shouldn't just scroll through it in class. It really is a losing battle

[toasterazzi]

I believe in picking your battles, and cell phones are not the (losing) battle I want to take up. Participation is 10% of the grade in my class, so they automatically lose their participation points if I see their phones. No warnings or anything along those lines. They just lose the points and it wreaks a bit of havoc on their grade eventually. Some of them learn and some of them don't, but the policy is in the syllabus so they have no excuses.

 

I also have some colleagues who automatically mark them absent if they the phones. 

 

Honestly though, unless the phone is ringing, which has only happened a couple of times since I started TAing in 2012, I don't personally care that much if they're screwing around on the phone because I feel like they have to be held accountable for making themselves pay attention at some point. And if they miss info because they're compulsively playing Candy Crush, then that's on them.

[Kamisha]

I subscribe to the idea that the more “hardline” you are, the less students respond to you. Don’t get me wrong, I think you should have very clear policies and procedures in your syllabi and that you should enforce them. But, like toasterazzi says, you really have to pick your battles. 

 

This is my classroom policy regarding cellphones: "You may bring your cellphone to class with you, provided it is on silent and does not become a distraction. Electronic distractions may result in a loss of participation points."

 

If someone is using their phone to much, I shoot them an email and let them know. Problem solved. In my four years teaching, I’ve only ever had to take participation points away form two students for cell phone usage, and that was when I was teaching high school.

 

Anyway, that’s my two cents. I hope someone found it helpful. 

 

Edit: I just re-read the original post. If a student routinely ignores you, I’d dock their participation/attendance grade and insist they come in and talk to you about it. If they are hostile toward you or continually act out (and if you are teacher of record), you can always bounce them from your class. If you aren’t teacher of record, you could ask your supervisor how they would prefer you to handle it. 

Edited February 22, 2014 by Kamisha

[mdiv2014]

are they talking on the phone? texting? or looking up info?

having been an educator for 20 years and now returning for another degree, i think we need more information before we respond correctly to your problem

are you a teacher THAT DEMANDS ALL EYES ARE ON YOU THROUGHOUT THE CLASS? scary, but some teachers are like that...

when you say they are disruptive - do you mean to you or otehr studetns?

you need a variety of tools as a teacher - while we all like to 'jump out of our b**** bag' and call the guy out' won't we look like the a** if he said that he was just looking up the references you just gave......

 

the response of just stop talking and start looking at the student with phone which will current peer pressure is a good one

[Karajan]

are they talking on the phone? texting? or looking up info?

having been an educator for 20 years and now returning for another degree, i think we need more information before we respond correctly to your problem

are you a teacher THAT DEMANDS ALL EYES ARE ON YOU THROUGHOUT THE CLASS? scary, but some teachers are like that...

when you say they are disruptive - do you mean to you or otehr studetns?

you need a variety of tools as a teacher - while we all like to 'jump out of our b**** bag' and call the guy out' won't we look like the a** if he said that he was just looking up the references you just gave......

 

the response of just stop talking and start looking at the student with phone which will current peer pressure is a good one

 

I am fairly certain that texting is the main issue, given that they all have the textbook, but of course it's possible they are looking up relevant info.  I also have an issue with many of them chattering through class (not on their phones, but to one another).  There's only so many times you can say, "Can I have your attention up here please?"  Sigh... 

[mdiv2014]

are they chatting about the material?

ask them straight out 'are you all chatting about the material?' and tell the class, that the best way is to ask me (the teacher) and interrupt to get clarification

or more non-confrontationally - if you all are chatting about the material, it's best to interrupt me immediately, some of this material is complex... 

 

.....you need a number of stock phrases ranging from nice to B****y 

and the balls to use them (the first few times you'll be shaking)

excuse me may i have your attention please?

i've told you nicely, now i'm telling you not so nicely, pllleease (eyes on them) pause for effect pay attention dont chat during class

we're having a class so can you stop talking (again body language will send this one through)

i see we have yet another interruption in class, while looking at them

see me after class about your needless chatting during my class

get the drift here....

 

firmness and consistent application of expectations changes behavior

 

at least you're not a substitute teacher in the inner city

 

seek out the advice of a dynamic teacher 

Edited February 24, 2014 by mdiv2014

[mdiv2014]

and to revisit your comment 'i dont want to be a mean guy'.....

you're their teacher and responsible imho for their learning or at least their learning environment

an effective teacher has the 'mean' tool in their toolbox, and uses it only as needed

 

remember this when you have kids

[gingin6789]

Since they're not listening to you, I would start docking points from their participation grade like some others have suggested here!

 

Granted, I don't have TA experience yet ... I'm just one of those undergrad students who would get REALLY irritated when I saw folks play on their phones during class because it was an aggravating distraction to have a glowing screen and clicking noises nearby.

Edited February 24, 2014 by gingin6789

[TakeruK]

I agree with the others that say to pick your battles and I don't think it's worth fighting about cell phone usage in class. Many of our classes here involve taking your laptop with you and doing stuff on it while the class is going on, and it's pretty much impossible to police what students are actually doing on their computers. Also, I don't think it's always a bad thing if a student wants to just check their email in conjunction with whatever else they are supposed to be doing with the class.

 

I've also taken classes where the professor/instructor will look something up on their phone if we are discussing something but no one knows the answer to something simple but important. e.g. How large is the eccentricity of Jupiter's orbit? Or the prof will ask someone to look it up when we're stuck. Smartphones are a useful tool to have and there's no point not using them.

 

I would personally not choose to have a policy like docking participation points if I see them on the phone. I feel like anytime you have to document something happened, it provides a way for a student to argue with you and make it into a power struggle. I personally would choose to avoid power struggles because even if you win the battle, you're still hurting yourself in the long run.

 

I think cell phones (or laptop use, etc.) should only be a problem if it becomes an actual disruption to the class. I don't believe in arbitrary banning of laptops because students should have the choice of taking notes in whatever format they want. And if I set a rule that you cannot be on email when in class, that means I have to constantly walk behind the students and check up on them, which is not possible or the students can easily know when I'm not behind them, they can use email and the other students can see, and everyone will see that my rule is not effective at all, which is even less ideal in my opinion. 

 

I think what I do with cell phones usage really depends on the situation.

 

If I am leading a recitation/tutorial session where I am explaining something at the front of the class and someone is not paying attention, it's not a big deal to me. If they already know whatever I'm explaining, then it's their right to go look up something else more interesting on their laptop.

 

If I am in a lab session, then most students will have their laptops and phones out anyways to look up stuff like the lab procedures, or properties of the materials they are working with etc. If they are obviously doing something off-task, I take the time to go up to that group and start asking about their progress. Usually this compels them to get back on task. I don't usually directly mention their goofing off but instead just ask them what they have accomplished so far, why do they think certain things happened the way they did in the experiment, etc. If they actually knew what they were doing and finished early and wanted to take a break before the next phase, then that's fine with me. Ultimately, they only have so many hours to finish their work and if they run out of time because they worked too slowly then that's their own fault and it will be reflected when I grade their incomplete work.

 

When I lead discussion groups, I expect my students to participate in the discussion, so if they are playing on their phone, it would be a big deal. In this case, I would go with rising_star's advice and ask students to take their phone conversation (whether it's texts or whatever) outside and not participate. But usually this is a "rule" I would go over with the class at the beginning / first meeting and have everyone agree on what responsibilities and expectations we should all have of each other in order to generate a positive discussion atmosphere (along with other important things like respect for each other's opinions etc.). You can also directly ask questions towards students who are not participating enough. Even in discussion based classes, I would not want to have points awarded for participation, because I don't think the goal is to reward students for participating and punish those who do not. Instead, I think the point is to get everyone to exchange ideas and feel comfortable speaking up. I would not want to make a rule where you got a point for saying a thing and you needed to meet some quota. I would rather spend my energy finding ways to get all of my students more comfortable sharing their opinions! 

[LittleDarlings]

I had so many teachers who had strict no cellphone policies most were ignored, I don't know if you allow people to bring their lap tops but if they can't use their phones they will just bring the computer.  I had only 1 professor who I actually made 100% sure I turned my phone off before his class and he was very strict about it the syllabus said "if you use your cellphone or it rings during class 5 points will be deducted from your next exam grade" well exams were hard enough as is without that added stress.  Also if it rang during an exam he took off 10.  You could always try that, scared the shit out of me and I never used it in that class.  

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

It's only 28 year old TAs who get bothered by cell phones. None of my professors care. 

[Karajan]

I teach a class where you really don't need/can't use your laptop (unless you have a PDF version of the textbook).  Cell phone use has been down, but it's really their problem if they're not going to pay attention and not get things.  I have one student who was using his laptop today in class (he told me it was to look at his textbook as a PDF), and I eventually found out he was watching YouTube videos on it (muted, obviously).  He's one of the two students failing the class.

[TakeruK]

It's only 28 year old TAs who get bothered by cell phones. None of my professors care. 

 

Definitely. I view my role as a TA as a helpful resource to assist my students with their learning. If they choose to "waste" this resource by not attending office hours/discussion groups/whatever or by not paying attention to me, it only hurts them. That said, I would care if they were disrupting others who are trying to learn, and I would still reflect on my policies/teaching styles to make sure I am not totally boring students and actually providing helpful/useful material. Teaching is my responsibility but actually learning/retaining the material is theirs.

[Karajan]

It's only 28 year old TAs who get bothered by cell phones. None of my professors care. 

 

Some professors certainly care. 

 

"...cell phones that go off in your class tend to be confiscated, stomped on, and/or thrown out the window." 

 

http://chicagomaroon.com/2009/06/02/q-and-a-with-paul-sally/

[hashslinger]

Since they're not listening to you, I would start docking points from their participation grade like some others have suggested here!

 

Granted, I don't have TA experience yet ... I'm just one of those undergrad students who would get REALLY irritated when I saw folks play on their phones during class because it was an aggravating distraction to have a glowing screen and clicking noises nearby.

I think this is the main issue for me--cell phones and other devices are distracting to other students. So as much as I'd like to take a "screw 'em, it's their responsibility to know the material!" attitude, I have to think about the class as a whole.

 

I actually don't allow laptops in my classes unless we have some special task that requires a laptop. When there are no electronic distractions around, I find that the class discussion is much better and that students actually perform better.

 

TBH, I don't really understand why it's so much to ask to have people put their personal phones or devices away when they're in class. It's really very little to expect of people. There are a variety of rude things that I could do when I'm in a seminar or job talk, but I don't do them.

 

And I attended college before the cell phone craze hit, but professors back then were not tolerant of other distracting behaviors--reading the newspaper or a magazine in class, or sleeping all over your desk. Doing any of those things would get you kicked out of class. I didn't think my professors were insecure for enforcing those rules.

[seeingeyeduck]

I think they're here to stay and I've never seen the point of banning them. It's more of a problem in large lectures if they ring, but I've mostly been in small seminars and the shame of having your phone ring and everyone stare at you is enough to make most people pay attention to silencing it the next time.

I don't think it's a good idea to ban phone or computer usage; virtually all my classes were full of people taking notes on laptops. If they want to goof off instead of paying attention to the education they are paying for, then that's on them as an adult. You are not their employer, trying to get man hours out of them, or a parent who has to teach them good habits. If they are not disruptive to others and can still learn and participate while being on the phone, what's the problem?

And I'd point out that I've taken notes before on a phone in Evernote. It's nice because you can access it across all your devices and don't have to upload anything yourself. I would not appreciate it if my professors assumed I was playing games and punished me as I was just trying to use technology to my advantage in learning.

Edited February 26, 2014 by seeingeyeduck

[TakeruK]

TBH, I don't really understand why it's so much to ask to have people put their personal phones or devices away when they're in class. It's really very little to expect of people. There are a variety of rude things that I could do when I'm in a seminar or job talk, but I don't do them.

 

I think there is a difference between us (graduate students who want to continue in our field and/or academia) sitting in a seminar or job talk and our students who are potentially just taking the class to fulfill whatever requirements or just to have a passing interest in our course. 

 

I always try to remember that my undergrad students are not mini versions of me. Not all of them want to go to grad school, and definitely not all of them want to continue in Physics (what I TA'ed mostly). Some of them are just taking that class because they must have some kind of physical science elective. Some of them are a little bit interested in science from a non-professional point of view and just want to expand their horizons. Of course, some of them also are potential "mini-me"s and want to seriously study science/physics in the long run.

 

So, keeping in mind the diversity of my class, I do not try to treat my class as a training ground for future physicists. That would alienate a lot of people in the class. I don't expect them to spend hours outside of class studying the material--a lot of them probably have a lot of other commitments they would rather do / need to do instead of my class. Even when I am teaching at the junior level, most students are not interested in future graduate work. So instead of trying to do everything as a TA (professional development etc.), I just focus on helping the students achieve the learning goals of the course. It's a waste of everyone's time if I tried to teach them to be physicists, instead of just teaching them physics.

 

Of course, I would still encourage further studies in Physics, let them know about seminars that week, etc. I remain approachable so students who are thinking of graduate school come to me and ask me about GREs, applications, how to choose research projects etc (and many of them have). I encourage students to pursue funding for summer research project. I've kept in touch with a few of my students that I TA'ed in the past and they recently started some really great graduate programs.

 

My bottom line is that I try not to expect arbitrarily high bars/hoops for my students to jump through because I know there is a large variety of goals and backgrounds. I don't treat all of my students as if they are going to be future graduate students or even professionals in the field. I just want to provide a place for them to learn about my course's topics with as minimal impact to their other lives as possible. I don't want a non-science major to think that Physics/Science is stupid because of random arbitrary rules or even for them to spend their time trying to conform to these rules instead of spending their energy learning the material. For example, most scientists in my field use LaTeX to typeset reports and some journals absolutely require it. For my students, I strongly encourage LaTeX and I will help them get it set up and use it, but I never say that the reports must be written in this way. As long as their final report is legible, I am happy to accept it and I will care much more about the content than the style/format.

 

So, I feel that arbitrary requirements like 100% complete attention/participation or not being allowed to take notes on a computer (or phone) etc are more appropriate for a class of students who all want to become professionals in the field. Maybe some classes are like this. But most of the undergrad classes I have experienced are not like this and I don't think it's reasonable to expect everyone to act as professionals (or professionals in training) in your field.

[hashslinger]

But I don't think that expecting students to make certain concessions to the classroom space = expecting them to become future scholars. Maybe it's just me, but I really don't think that putting your cell phone away for 50 minutes is a very high hoop to jump through.

 

Beyond that, I'm not quite certain what standards we're expecting our students to meet if not to become at least semi-literate in the materials we teach. I took a lot of classes in college that I had no interest in; I was still expected to do the work. I was still expected to attain a minimum proficiency in say, physics, despite the fact that I hated the subject and never thought about it again after I got through the class. But my professor still expected that I, a non-physics person, would do the reading. And I expect my students to do the reading for my class, even if they don't see an ounce of usefulness in the subject. Why else go to college? 

 

I used the examples of "seminar" and "job talk," but I could have easily said "sitting in a board room" or "sitting in a movie theater." There are places in life where it's still considered rude to pull out your phone. If a professor or TA feels that their classroom space is one of those places, I think that's fine, and I think they can enforce that expectation without feeling like they're alienating their students or infringing upon students' rights to do with their class what they see fit. (If someone doesn't feel that way and has no problems with cell phones, then that's also fine--no judgment there.) Ultimately, I think the professor or TA gets to make decisions of how to run their classroom. Students are always free to take another class if they find a professor's rules too burdensome or their demands too high.

Edited February 26, 2014 by hashslinger

[Between Fields]

There are a lot of factors to consider with cellphones. For instance, I have several international students in my composition class--I have no way of knowing whether they're using the dictionaries on their phones or texting their friends. If I think someone's genuinely texting in class, I might call on them in discussion until my point is made, but I have only twice ever specifically asked someone to stop texting. Really, you should be concerned about alienating your students, whether or not you think it's philosophically the right thing to have to do. TA or Professorial authority aside, our main job is to make sure they're engaged and getting the material; the way to do that is not to smash their phones. We need to present ourselves as if we care about their progress (and oftentimes we do), not as though we're in it for the power trip. Like it or not, that's how students perceive things like that. Calling out one student is also a great way to get the rest of the class united against you.

 

This is how we were orientated in my department, anyway. 

[TakeruK]

I think there are two issues that I am addressing here. The first is the specific example of whether or not students should be allowed to use cell phones and laptops in class, and the second is whether or not professors/TAs should have the ability to create policies on cellphones and laptops. So firstly....

 

But I don't think that expecting students to make certain concessions to the classroom space = expecting them to become future scholars. Maybe it's just me, but I really don't think that putting your cell phone away for 50 minutes is a very high hoop to jump through.

 
Sorry, I think there might have been some mis-communication on my part here! I agree that not using your phone is equivalent to expecting them to become future scholars. I think that not using your phone to email/text is a polite thing to do in class and all students should do this if they want to get the most out of the class. However, I am also saying that I don't think an instructor should require all students to get the most out of the class. If a student chooses to disengage themself from the lecture/discussion, they should be able to do so, as long as they don't directly impact another student's learning (i.e. noisy phones, or not participating in small group discussions/work). I mean, this is definitely unprofessional behaviour and not ideal, but as instructors, I don't think we should force/require all of our students to care about the class. We should definitely encourage them to do so, though.
 
To me, staring off into space and thinking about something else (my grocery list? my homework in other classes? what I want to make for dinner tonight? my TV shows?) or making random doodles on my notebook is the same level of disengagement as writing emails on my laptop or sending a text during class (or even falling asleep in the back of the lecture hall). If I did these things, these are all poor choices on my part. But if I am daydreaming about dancing apples in class, it doesn't detract from another student's learning. 
 
Thus, to me, there is nothing wrong with a student choosing to disengage from the class. Whether or not the student uses technology to aid them in their disengagement is not important. What is important is that the disengaging student does not distract others in the class by a beeping cellphone or a noisy computer or images flashing on a screen and being disruptive. So, I don't think rules like "no cellphones in class" make sense to me, as an instructor and as a student. I think rules like "keep your cellphones on silent" or "be respectful of your classmates' learning" make more sense. 
 

I used the examples of "seminar" and "job talk," but I could have easily said "sitting in a board room" or "sitting in a movie theater." There are places in life where it's still considered rude to pull out your phone. If a professor or TA feels that their classroom space is one of those places, I think that's fine, and I think they can enforce that expectation without feeling like they're alienating their students or infringing upon students' rights to do with their class what they see fit. (If someone doesn't feel that way and has no problems with cell phones, then that's also fine--no judgment there.) Ultimately, I think the professor or TA gets to make decisions of how to run their classroom. Students are always free to take another class if they find a professor's rules too burdensome or their demands too high.

 

I understand that your "seminar"/"job talk" examples were just examples relevant to us as graduate students. But what I meant is that to us, class time is important to us and valued to us. But this is not always true for our students. I think it is reasonable for a student to want to pay full attention while at work in their employer's board room (and thus not take out their phone) yet do not care about our classes as much. i.e. just because a student is irresponsible (uses a phone) in class doesn't mean that student will be equally irresponsible in other parts of life. 

 

I don't think a professor or TA can have the same authority over their class as a CEO might have over their boardroom. In the classroom, the professor and TA are providing a service to the student body. I won't go as far to say that the students are clients/customers but when I sign up to take a class, I don't see myself as signing up for obligations the same way as when I sign up for a job. In my opinion, the instructors should adjust their teaching style and class format to meet the needs of their students, not expect the students to conform to whatever style the prof or TA prefer to use. I think that while ultimately the prof/TA gets to decide exactly how certain aspects of their instruction is implemented, however, the classes at a university should be structured the way the students want to learn. The department and university should be open and actively solicit student feedback and apply pressure on instructors to adjust their classes to respond to changing student wants/needs. 

 

Okay, now this leads to the second issue--how much control should a professor/TA have over their classroom environment?

 

The statement that "students can always take another class" is not always true. In my major, there is usually a strict set of required classes and not enough people to justify more than one section, so there is only one class. But, I also don't think professors should be allowed to have arbitrary rules about their particular classes. Even if there are more than one professor/section of a particular class, it's not fair that some students are allowed to use computers to take notes and some are not. Other rules I think should not vary so much from class to class are policies on whether using past years' exams/problem sets to study from is allowed, whether certain types of calculators are allowed, etc. Rules like this should be standardized and enforced at at least the departmental level, instead of allowing individual instructors to decide. 

 

My concern is that allowing individuals too much control over a classroom can cause personal preferences of the instructor to put some students at a disadvantage (perhaps unknowingly by the instructor). I think that in general, Departments and/or Faculties and/or Universities should have general regulations that apply to all of the classes under their jurisdiction and do not allow instructors to create a classroom environment that deviates from it. For example, many schools require instructors to modify exams to ensure that students with certain disabilities are not disadvantaged. There are usually standardized hours that classes must take place on, and I don't think it's fair that some instructors want to schedule classes outside of these hours (I've experienced this with some graduate classes).

 

I am passionate about this argument because I really think schools should enforce a policy where professors are not allowed to create "no laptop" policies. I also do not think an instructor should be allowed to kick a student out of a classroom (if they are actually creating a disturbance/being violent/being unsafe, call security; if the instructor doesn't like a student's attitude, then too bad) or prevent a student who is late to class from entering (unless it is an exam and/or some other instance where academic integrity can be comprised) or prevent students from leaving class early. Profs should not threaten to damage students' cellphones if they are used in class (who takes these threats seriously anyways) or take a phone out of a student's hand and talk to whomever is on the other end. I also do not think they should have the authority to confiscate such items.

 

Basically, I think that a student's right to take a certain class using electronics (or even just plain not paying attention) takes priority over an instructor's preference that their students do not use cell phones or laptops.

[TakeruK]

Oh, I also wanted to add that, at least in my field, at professional events like conferences, there are always tons of people on their laptops and cell phones during invited and contributed talks. I often see faculty members checking emails or even putting together slides for their own talk later that day or later that week. 

 

And, many people are now live-tweeting or live-blogging conference talks for their colleagues who are not able to attend. Conferences often encourage this by publishing a hashtag that attendees can use to discuss the event. One faculty member even asked the audience a question during his presentation and wanted attendees to answer by tweeting it to him with a certain hashtag. It was a "guess the value of a certainty quantity--closest answer wins!" type of thing.

 

So maybe it's a difference of perspective that in my field, we might not feel that using a laptop/phone during a presentation is a rude thing.

[hashslinger]

However, I am also saying that I don't think an instructor should require all students to get the most out of the class. If a student chooses to disengage themself from the lecture/discussion, they should be able to do so, as long as they don't directly impact another student's learning (i.e. noisy phones, or not participating in small group discussions/work). I mean, this is definitely unprofessional behaviour and not ideal, but as instructors, I don't think we should force/require all of our students to care about the class.

 

I don't think that anyone really believes that they can force or require people to learn or get the most out of a class. And I don't think that the anti-cellphone people believe that having some restrictions on cellphone usage will ultimately force people to learn. I don't really think the question is about forcing students to learn; it's more about being able to determine the kind of classroom you want to teach in, and to create a learning environment that will be conducive to most students.

 

More importantly, I don't think that having a no cellphone policy turns a TA into a mini CEO or a boss. I used the "board room" example, but again, I could have said "a play" or "a doctor's office." My point is that there are still places in life where cellphone usage is not considered appropriate. From my viewpoint, I think that a classroom counts as one of those situations: some semblance of order and quiet is needed because other people are listening and trying to learn. I find it a little odd that people have a difficult time understanding the concerns that some professors may have about cellphones in their class. They're distracting to people. Personally, it's distracting to me when I'm teaching, and the classroom is actually my workplace.

 

I actually have no problem with laptops in certain situations--when I'm lecturing, when the students have to refer to a huge PDF file, etc. However, when I teach a small 20-person seminar that's focused almost completely on class discussion and we're sitting in a circle, then no, I don't think it's too much to ask to have people put their laptops away and focus. I don't think that certain types of technology are appropriate for 100% of situations. My mother is an educational technologist who is very pro-technology, and even she thinks it's kind of ridiculous that educators and administrators see educational technology as a universal good for all situations. Technology isn't a one-size-fits-all thing, and that's why it's unwise to have blanket rules about allowing laptops in all classrooms.

 

In my opinion, the instructors should adjust their teaching style and class format to meet the needs of their students, not expect the students to conform to whatever style the prof or TA prefer to use.

 

Again, I don't think anyone would disagree with this. But there is this weird assumption here ... that by asking people to put away their phones or technology that we're somehow not meeting students' needs, or we're totally blind to what they want or how they want to learn. I'm not quite sure when having a no cellphone policy meant that you were anti-student. (Not to mention the fact that a lot of students themselves wish other students would put their cellphones away--what about their needs?) Those of us who have restrictions on technology aren't just walking around our classrooms, adjusting blinds and eating lifesavers and expecting our students to keep up with our mile-a-minute lectures on whatever obscure topic. Not allowing cellphones or devices does not make you a teacher on an ego trip. The best teacher I know--who teaches in a community college with a lot of at-risk and non-traditional students--has technology restrictions in his classes. He gets stellar evaluations, wins teaching awards, etc. He's the most pro-student person I know. And yet, no cellphones or laptops in his class.

 

Beyond that, I find it a little strange that we would conceptualize this relationship between the student and teacher as completely one-sided--that it's all about the teacher needing to accommodate the students, and to solicit feedback from students to find out exactly what they want and how they feel and to then change policies and design courses around what they want. I know that it's popular in pedagogy to say that we're student-centered, and I don't know anyone who isn't (really, who isn't in it to help students?), but I also don't think it's unreasonable to expect our students to meet certain requirements and expectations. Aren't we supposed to be experts in our field? Or trying to be? Aren't we supposed to know a thing or two about what works best for helping students learn? Aren't we at least supposed to send the message that what we do is valuable and not just a dumb thing you have to get over with so you can go out and get on with your life? My best profs in college were in subjects that I didn't care a lot about--and what made these profs great was that they actually expected non-majors to give half a shit about the material they taught. They didn't care that 90% of the class was never going to pick up a biology textbook again--they still taught every class like it mattered. And, oh yeah, they expected people to come to class and engage while they were there--not go to sleep in the back or wander in and out of the room. My worst profs, in fact, were profs who just shrugged and took an attitude like, "It's just a GE, they don't care, just let them pick and choose what they want to do or figure out what they want to get out of it, their choice." Every time I have to face a class of non-majors, I remind myself that I don't want to be that professor, no matter how tempting it might be.

 

Frankly, it was a bit demoralizing to sit through classes like that. You got the sense that the prof didn't care about his job or about his subject. And if I didn't care about the subject, then the professor's attitude confirmed my sense that the class was a waste of time. And in classes where people were allowed to "disengage"--back then, that meant reading the newspaper or sleeping or walking in and out of the class--it was also demoralizing and distracting. I didn't get as much out of the class. I think that people often don't realize how much peers impact the learning experience. Really, there are some studies that confirm that peers are just as important as the professor. So while I don't think that we can "force" anyone to learn, I also don't think that texting and surfing ESPN are as inconsequential to other students as we'd like to think. I'm fine with students disengaging by staring, doodling, making grocery lists in their head, or looking out the window. Pulling up a flashing website or texting nonstop is a bit different. And while I'm not going to halt class to call someone out, or smash their cellphone, or push their laptop out the window--and I'm probably not going to acknowledge what they're doing at all--I'm still not going to condone it.

 

My point is that the characterization of non-cellphone people here--as uncaring about their students' success--is not quite accurate, just as it might be inaccurate to think that pro-cellphone people are obsessed with pandering to their students.