Texting, typing in class: both annoying

  At the start of every semester, professors provide their students with the course syllabi. They tell students what they expect of them academically as well as professionally. One rule that many professors include in their standards for class conduct is no cell phone use during class. Some even say that you will be asked to leave class if you are caught using a cell phone.

   Professors claim that text messaging or checking e-mail disturbs the class, and I would agree with them. But I also think there is another problem that professors might want to think about addressing, which is the increasing number of students who bring their laptops to class. Students can now attend class without actually being there mentally. I've seen students play games, check Facebook, and even bring headphones to class so they can watch videos on their laptop.

   It brings up a good question, which device causes more disruption: a cell phone or a laptop?

   As far as text messaging goes, most of us know that a conversation doesn't end after just one or two texts. They usually consist of many more back-and-forth messages. Sometimes the conversations can last the entire class period.

   People think that putting their phones on vibrate mode will keep them from annoying anyone. However, not only do you still hear the phone vibrate, but when people keep their phone on the extended tables like the ones in the Lecture Centers, you can feel the vibration from one end of the table to the other. While that may sound silly, it has interrupted my focus before.

   While cell phones can be helpful in case of emergency, I don't think that it's too much to ask for students to make it so that their cell phones don't disturb everyone else in class.

   And while many professors think that students bring laptops to class in order to take notes, they ought to think again. I'm not saying that everyone who brings a laptop to class is fooling around, but many are using them just to keep themselves from falling asleep.

   During my first semester, I took a business-law class and many people brought their laptops, including myself. But not everyone was using them for the same purpose. While I was trying to stay focused and take notes, someone else would be watching "parkour" videos. If you're not going to mentally attend the class, then what is it worth being physically there for?
 

  I had a professor who had tried to fight this; he encouraged students to let him know after class if people were using their laptops for reasons other than taking notes. He said if it kept going on, he would prohibit laptop use in his class. I'm not sure if everyone gave in to his demands, but it eventually became a non-issue.

   And for those who take notes with a pen and paper, I can understand how the constant clicking of keys can be irritating. But as long as professors allow laptop use, this is a problem that won't go away, barring any advance in technology like touch-sensitive keys.

   Cell phones and laptops in class can both be annoying, but I don't think that means it should affect which should or should not be allowed. While cell phone use during class is almost always unnecessary, laptops can actually be used in a proper way. So I would say that it is fair that laptops are allowed, while cell phones are not.

   It would just be great if people would act appropriately, and not take advantage of the system.