In-class cellphone use distracts everyone, say profs. (Photo by Elli Garlin/The Cord)
Profs seek new controls as cellphone prevalence increases
WATERLOO, Ont. (CUP) — John Schwieter knows exactly what his students are up to when they try to hide the fact that they’re texting in class.
“They usually sit way back in their chairs and put their hands halfway under their desks, but on their lap, and they’re constantly just making little arm movements,” said Schwieter, a languages professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont.
“In terms of their attention level – they’re not even looking up.”
For Schwieter and many of his colleagues, students’ in-class cellphone use has become more of an annoyance as the devices have become more popular.
With plain talk-and-text cell phones soon to be a thing of the past, more and more students are carrying smartphones. Whether an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android phone, students now have access to social media sites, like Twitter and Facebook, along with instant messaging and web browsing at their fingertips.
Though most course syllabi will feature a blurb about the prohibition of cellphones and other electronic devices, students don’t always follow this regulation.
Some students remark that a confusing double standard is set when professors themselves are constantly glancing at and fidgeting with their cellphones.
Trevor Holmes, a professor at both Laurier and the University of Waterloo, suggests that it may not be quite accurate to characterize it as a professor-versus-student issue.
“How many professors have, in both academic and non-academic settings, seen colleagues apparently multitasking with BlackBerrys and iPhones during committee meetings, presidential addresses and guest lectures?” Holmes mused.
“The problem may be a symptom of communication technology’s ubiquity and a general decline in respect for situations that used to carry a certain gravitas.”
Holmes believes that professors and students alike could use these devices productively — such as tweeting quiz questions and answers. But he believes that using phones during lectures and meetings is inappropriate.
Schwieter isn’t as concerned about the distraction, but said that using phones in class to chat about less pressing matters is insulting to an educator.
“It does make me think twice about how I feel about that student,” he said.
In fact, Schwieter does not allow any electronic devices, with the exception of laptops only for students who truly need them.
He’s been wary about the use of laptops since an incident two years ago, when a student brought a laptop to class, allegedly to take notes. An entire row of students, “were all watching this football game,” he recounted.
Since then, Schwieter asks that the few students using laptops sit in the very back row to create as little distraction as possible for other students.
Other professors prefer the opposite — keeping their laptop-using students in the front of the classroom in order to better monitor their activities.
Four years ago, 18 million Canadians were using mobile phones, a number almost on par with the amount of landline users.
The number has only risen since then.
With cell phones a part of everyday life, it’s unlikely professors will be able to eliminate them from the classroom entirely.
“I’m just wondering if it’s something that you can’t beat anyway,” Schwieter said.
