The scene in most of my classes is typical: The row of students in the front with their collage of MacBook Pros, one window open for notes and another for your social networking site of choice. The daring students who can somehow capture an entire lecture using the ancient method of pen and paper. And others who just seem to take their knowledge in by osmosis and always get A’s.

There isn’t just an ensemble of ways to take notes and participate in class, but a variety of learning styles too. The University is notorious for its integration of technology into classes and the classroom: Compass 2g, i-clickers, PowerPoints, virtual blackboards, WebAssign and smartPhysics. Teachers and students alike know what I’m talking about.

Without a doubt I am pro-technology, whether it’s inside or outside the classroom. Technology advances and we must advance alongside it. The same goes for students, especially when these enhanced learning resources are available to students and teachers of a recognized and competitive university. 

And although I can attest to students using computers for impractical reasons, there are plenty who use them efficiently. Teachers flaunt their technologic learning tools, but as soon as students wish to do the same, they are considered “distracting” and “not educational.” Distracting is when it takes longer than the length of a teacher’s YouTube video to actually load it. Not educational is when teachers read word-for-word off of a PowerPoint that students already have in front of them. But as a university that praises diversity, I would hope that means it’s included in learning too.

The University teachers aren’t strangers to diversity in teaching; they use slideshows and picture models to appease the visual learners and accompany them with a verbal lecture for the auditory learners. As a student watching a teacher use a computer to conduct their entire class, it’s often hard to appreciate when they’re asked to put the same technology their teachers’ are using away. Students have a responsibility to learn, and it’s unfair to not give us the benefit of the doubt. If students miss important lecture slides because they were off-task on their computers, it’s their responsibility to catch back up. And if students can’t answer questions because they were using their computers, it’s their responsibility to face the consequences.  

At this point in my college career, the classroom is entirely focused on student discussion and participation. While the teacher sets out the infrastructure for the class, it’s only fair that students adjust themselves accordingly and individually. Otherwise, the University is not respecting and meeting the needs of students and their range of learning styles that result in effective classrooms. Students deserve a little bit of say in the classroom that they are expected to be successful and active participants in.   

If a classroom that allows computer use has declining effectiveness, it’s unfair to point the problem at technology. It’s unfair to generalize a few students’ computer use habits to an entire classroom and then call it a University problem. If technology were the problem, I don’t think teachers would continue to build their classrooms around it, nor would the University continue to promote it. 

Needless to say, I respect all of my teachers. They spend their days teaching multiple classes, involved with research projects and meeting students’ needs. Teachers don’t want computers in the classroom because it certainly deals with a level of respect, but it’s also because they want their students to succeed. But as I have found a compromise in taking written notes while using my computer to bring up lengthy articles, I think teachers can compromise with students who can’t keep up with writing notes or who prefer other styles of learning.

If teachers ask us to use a computer to access online journals and scholarly readings, to do our calculus homework on WebAssign or to watch a viral lecture on Compass, then students deserve to use those same computers to learn and participate in class. Either end the University technology paradox or fix it — let the grades reflect the student and let the student take responsibility for the grades.

Adam is a junior in ACES. He can be reached at [email protected].