OK, I can't take it anymore. Once again we get a post about obnoxious students texting during class, surfing the web on laptops during class, etc. etc. ad infinitum ad nauseum. Enough already! Ban the fucking moronic devices from your classrooms! It's EASY! (I'm speaking of classes that are reasonably small and where there is personal interaction between the teacher and students. I realize that a lecture hall with 500 students might be an altogether different matter.) On DAY ONE of all my classes I go through a little Luddite rant about cell phones, laptops, iPods, Blackberries, strawberries, whatever. And it's all in my syllabus as well. I tell them that we are doing our own little reality show like Manor House or 1910 House. We're playing 1950 Classroom. (I wish I could take credit for this idea, but it was given to me by a friend.) The students get a book, paper, and an archaic writing utensil, like a pen (or a stylus for their clay tablets, not for their PDA). I get to use the classroom computer instead of a filmstrip projector, but that's it!
I've heard all the arguments for why and how laptops can be ever so useful in the classroom under certain circumstances, yadda, yadda, yadda. But it seems that the hassles far outweigh the benefits 99% of the time, and 90% of us can get by absolutely fine without the students ever having access to their laptops during class time. In fact, I tell them that all their little toys are to remain completely out of sight in my classroom. If they are yapping on their cell phone 5 minutes before class starts, they can stay out in the hall, and they can pull the fucking iPod plugs out of their ears before they cross the threshold of the classroom.
During the course of the entire semester I will usually get one cell phone going off accidentally, and I can throw a giant hissy-fit while the culprit makes a desperation dive for the backpack, much to the rest of the students' amusement. I don't think I've ever had a cell phone go off twice in the same semester.
The point is, if you clearly and forcefully establish your Luddite bona-fides on the first day of class, you very rarely have to deal with this crap any more.
