Internet access in the classroom is considered by most to be a marvel to society. It’s amazing that the vast resources of the almighty internet can be brought right into any classroom, wirelessly. What many disagree upon, however, is whether or not this marvel is actually useful. Many like myself argue that internet on tap is a hindrance to learning when students use it for purposes other than class-related activities. There are myriad perspectives to this issue, however it is the negative which I wish to highlight.
When an instructor wants to incorporate and online activity into his or her lecture, it is important that students be able to call up the net from their own chairs. Once the activity is over, and the instructor continues the not-so-interactive lecture, the odds of he or she being able to re-captivate his or her audience is slim. Short of a professor proclaiming “put your computers away, NOW!,” there is nothing to keep students from playing online games, or even from studying for other classes. Students are guaranteed to miss out on key portions of lectures that follow “infotainment” portions, as Dennis Adams, in Wireless Laptops in the Classroom (and the Sesame Street Syndrome) calls it (26).
A laptop offers much of the same capability as a game console, in the way of entertainment options. While gaming consoles are made specifically for gaming, they have limited gaming options. Laptops, while allowing users to create documents and check e-mail, also provide for virtually unlimited online mini-gaming capability, through the magical portal of the Internet. USA Today sums up what happens to college freshman who become distracted with interactive media: “First-year students whose roommates brought a video game player to college studied 40 minutes less each day on average, [which] translated into first-semester grades that were 0.241 points lower on the 4.0 grade scale” (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-09-18-videogame-GPA_N.htm?csp=34). Although no studies have yet been completed regarding the effect of laptops in classrooms on students’ GPAs, a reasonable correlation can be made in this case from video gaming consoles to interactive gaming on laptops. In essence, a distraction is created, which inhibits students’ willingness and ability to learn and be as successful.
From personal experience, I can say that the students who spend each accounting class sending messages on Facebook are not the ones who perform well on exams. Laptops should not be allowed in classrooms, because they invariably prevent students’ attention from being focused entirely on the professor. As a result, it is more difficult for instructors to perform their jobs, and more difficult for students to succeed in their wirelessly connected classrooms.
Works Cited
Adams, Dennis. "Wireless Laptops in the Classroom (and the Sesame Street Syndrome)." Communications of the ACM 49.9 (2006): 25-27.
Naseef, Kate. "Video Games Can Shoot Holes in GPA." USA TODAY. 19 Sept. 2007. 27 Nov. 2007
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