Tech: Teachers discuss various problems with computer classrooms. Students surf the web, check e-mail, and don’t pay attention unless instructors have a strong teaching plan and worthwhile activities. One teacher develops computer games tied to the course material. Others walk the classroom constantly.
Teachers and IT staff need to work together. A proxy server works wonders. I have always wanted a cutoff switch that kills the outbound connection for the students. Some network monitoring packages force the same image to appear on all the screens. One teacher discusses how she uses NetOp to record student computer activity for later use in parent-teacher conferences. Those time-date stamps always help. But as more university students bring in their own computers, we get new issues of ownership and control. Students own their computers, but the university provides the bandwidth.
