The modern college experience

This came up on something I read on Deadspin and I really wanted to discuss it. The question was posted by a college kid who wondered how did people survive college classes before laptops? I mean, how did you waste time in boring classes without Facebook, instant messaging and funny cat videos on YouTube?

This is one of those things that makes me happy that I am not a college student right now. Even when I was in grad school a few years back it was kind of rare to see people with laptops open in class. We even had professors with set rules banning laptops in class because it was obvious that those with them were not taking any notes at all. Given how easily distracted I can be I couldn’t imagine sitting behind someone with a laptop. All I would do in class is watch them answer email. To be honest it was one of the reasons why I always sat in the front row. (Well, that and being a total suck up.)

I even think if I had class today I wouldn’t use a laptop to take notes. It just feels so wrong. Even in meetings I prefer to have pen and paper on hand. Something about forcing yourself to write makes the information clearer in your mind. It’s just too distracting to have the internet at your fingertips and if I’m paying for a class I might as well try to pay attention.

Not to say that I always paid attention. There is only so much you can take of engineering lectures before your mind overloads. Sleep was always useful. You get the points for showing up for class but don’t have to worry about things like taking notes. The student newspaper is also useful as while it may be poorly written it at least provides you with something to read. I think ninety percent of my pop culture lists were started in college as I figured I had to write down something as I listened to a lecture that sounded as though it was nearly entirely spoken in a language that had nothing to do with English.

Let’s face it. Not all classes are interesting. Even a great professor can have an off lecture. It is a part of learning. I still would like to be a teacher one day and I know that when I do kids will be doing everything they can to not listen to the lecture. It’s part of the job. I just think that laptops hinder the classroom experience more than they help.