Laptops are everywhere. Should they be in the classroom? Each of you probably already has an opinion about this, but how many of you have done something about it? I know of some faculty who have banned them outright, and of at least one person who asks that her students email her copies of the notes they have taken during her lectures. But if you haven't made a leap to set a policy, maybe this week's video can help. It summarizes some results done for a class project on student and faculty attitudes regarding laptops (and now smart phones) in the classroom. Take the time to pause the video on some of the slides displaying results to the survey.

And then, read this article in March's edition of the Teaching Professor. In it Douglas Groothuis invites you to join him in his ban on laptops in the classroom. You may even be surprised by the impact this ban has on his evaluations by students.

"Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience." Steve Burnett in Bill Myers (1999, June 21) Wizards of the Web Partners blend talents to create new Internet uses. Chicago Sun Times.

We can only hope!

D

This week I share with you three videos. The first was a project by a Cultural Anthropology class taught by Michael Wesch (who I mentioned in last week's offering). In his own words it is "a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime."

The second video, also by Professor Wesch examines the (co) evolution of information and how we share it.

The third video is an unexpected response to the second, in the form of a dance performance choreographed by Kim Tritt (College of Wooster) with music by Sebastian Birch (Kent State) and Ed Caner.

Not trying to overwhelm you, but the connections between these videos go beyond a Kansas Anthropologist. There is a snapshot of how students process information, a reflection on how the processes they use are ever changing, and an example of the unexpected things people might do with information that is given them.

It was produced in the first few weeks of a Mass Communications class at the University of Denver. Beyond the video itself, the process of making the video achieved some other very important goals. Michael Wesch says about the students involved in the project that, "they've bonded. They are comfortable with one another. They respect one another. They are engaged and excited. They want to learn more, and they know that they can and will be responsible for most of that learning that is to come." (Mediated Cultures)

Perhaps most important to teaching and learning at St. Mary's, however, is the question of "How much technology is enough?" This is the question that is central to the project. It is a question that has been asked by dozens of organizations and countless faculty and students. Below is a link to an article entitled "What do Students Want?" from the February issue of Campus Technology. Will it give us the answer? Probably not, but does give us a lot to think about.

Campus Technology article