Professors, students divided on laptop usage
Some University of Guelph-Humber professors argue students need to use laptops properly, while some students argue professors need to implement them better with the class.
Dr. Gregory Klages, a professor at Guelph-Humber, has a doctorate in communication and culture and has taught in the business and media studies programs for about eight years. Until last year he disallowed laptops in his classes, only changing his policy because of student outcry and wanting to, “give them the autonomy to choose.”
He said laptops allow students to multi-task, but it decreased their ability to focus on one. “They may be able to chat online, be reading an article and taking notes, but their ability to retain that information and to understand that information has decreased.”
Klages said those distractions caused them to fall behind in the lecture. “You’re now out of the loop, you’re playing catch up with whatever else is going on and it’s harder to get back in.” He explained the laptop created a ripple effect for the students around it, as their attention was compromised because they see something interesting and are focused with the laptop.
Jamie Killingsworth has been teaching at Guelph-Humber in media studies since 2004 and always allowed laptops in class. He said he felt laptops were the “sign of the times, that today’s society is expected to learn to use these technological devices.”
He said a laptop doesn’t harm every student’s ability to learn, as each student learns differently. “We have to be careful not to generalize. Some students may benefit from using a laptop to look at the PowerPoint slides, to take notes.”
Killingsworth said the method of delivering lectures to the class alters a student’s laptop usage, but it’s up to the students how they use it to effectively learn. “Used for the right reasons, I think it can be an excellent compliment to the classroom. If you’re watching videos and tweeting, I think it’s much more difficult to learn.”
Hyatt Dearing, a first-year Humber College student, is in the electromechanical engineering technology program and said he infrequently uses his laptop in class. He noticed those who use laptops during class have a tougher time when studying for tests because they’re taking the notes verbatim off the slides and not really paying attention to the lecture. “They have to look over their notes, they have to basically try harder and they don’t always get some of the things not posted in the slides that the instructor will just say.”
Several of his professors post the lecture slides online exactly as repeated in class. The 19-year-old said he learned best through handwriting notes and believed his friends were distorted by their laptops.
Syeda Zehra, a fourth-year Guelph-Humber business student, said she uses a laptop often in class. She said laptops keep students awake and maintain their attention longer. “If you go to sleep you don’t really come back, whereas if you use a laptop, even if you get distracted, you do come back.”
Zehra noticed students turn to laptops because the professor just lectures and doesn’t engage with the students and that makes it “hard to focus for three straight hours.”
About the Author
Jasen Obermeyer is a third year Guelph-Humber Journalism student who is going to be the next Foster Hewitt or Joe Bowen.
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