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Feeling slightly guilty … but only slightly. One of my Twitter followers is a schoolboy; we’re an eclectic lot here! His latest tweet, a minute or so after inquiring about the Genius function in iTunes, told us all that he was thanking the deity for headphones. They block out his ‘stupid teacher.’
Yikes! In class, listening to iTunes and tweeting. Gen-Y, you heartbreak old multitaskers, you!
And hey … out there in front of the class. Do you care?
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I wonder what teachers actually do when faced with these kinds of situations. Would you encourage your students to use the technology? I know how distracting this might be, but if well planned and focussed, then surely it would have more learning potential and be more realistic than what appears to be a total ban in most classrooms … though obviously not this one!
The issue for me is why they are doing it? If they're doing it as a way to learn, then that's great. But if they're doing it because they're bored with your class & not learning anything, then that's an issue you need to address as teacher – 'you' as in 'teachers', not 'you' as in 'you' 🙂
Of course. I suspect my young Twitter friend is bored from the tone of his note. I know when I was lecturing, I loved having students with their laptops surfing the web for more details, thoughts etc., for our Q&A discussions. It can work for some I'm sure, but the 'house rules' need to be be clear.
I must admit I used to allow students to listen to iPods and they like when they were working individually but I don't anymore. Although I explicitly said this was not blanket permission I found myself constantly having to ask students to remove their ear buds.
So I can only assume that if his “stupid teacher” is fine with him wearing these headphones so all is fair really.
As for multi-tasking my observation is that there is a distinct link between being distracted by phone and iPods and struggling with learning, I don't think that these devices make you a weak student but I guess they provide a welcome escape when you feel like you are not coping. In short I don't especially buy the “children can multi-task with ease” meme.
Oct 12, 2008 at 9:42 PM /
I had to laugh at this post-its so funny. My initial reaction was 'omg, what a terrible teacher he must have'. But then I thought “whateva” 🙂