As we start the university school year in North America, more students are buying and using Macs and iPhones. In a few cases, universities are giving freshman students Apple hardware. 9to5mac has an excellent article on this trend called iPhone takes a seat across university campuses. Jonathan D. Glater also discussed university Mac adoption in his New York Times article called Welcome Freshman. Have an iPod.
With the high cost of gas, fewer students are driving themselves to campus.
I teach graduate courses on information systems. This fall, I’m teaching two undergraduate sections of an entry-level computer science course about Microsoft Office.
I’ve been polishing up my syllabus, and writing a very short policy about Internet use in the classroom. Cara Finnegan, an associate professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, describes student usage of email, the web and mobile phones during class time as a problem of divided attention, and posted this policy in an article on her blog entitled The syllabus it is a-changing:
“If you aren’t using it to perform a task specifically related to what we are doing in class at that very moment, put it away.”
It’s an excellent policy. Classroom time is limited, and students need to pay attention to what is happening. At the same time, instructors should plan an interesting and engaging series of activities for each class meeting. A well-planned session will help reduce the temptation for students to whip out their cell phone or check their email.
In the past, I’ve reminded students that the classroom computers and the wireless networks are monitored by university IT staff. It’s a good point of discussion when the class is studying network security or phishing. But more students are coming to class with mobile data cards in their laptops, or smartphones that use the mobile phone network. An Internet “kill switch” on the instructor’s podium might control the classroom’s connection to the university network, but they won’t disrupt a wireless connection.
It’s a classroom, not a lunchroom
Students often complain about arbitrary rules and inconvenient procedures. These rules have a variety of purposes, but they do help us identify students who can’t or won’t follow instructions.
I continue to include eating in my policy, especially when my courses meet in the Frear Center. My university has posted a strict no eating and drinking policy in that building for the last 6 years, but many instructors and students outside my college choose to ignore the rule.
I’ve heard a wide variety of stories and excuses. Some students have claimed they have never encountered a similar rule at their other schools. That might be true, but I’ve seen “no food and beverage in the classroom” policies at every university that I’ve worked at or attended.
At times, I’ve seen students smuggle in food and then lie about what they had done. Lying to a security guard seems like a poor idea, especially when the guards are supposed to keep homeless people and lost tourists out of the classroom building.
Students who bring in their own food usually don’t consider that their classmates or instructor might be allergic to an ingredient in the food. I’ve often wondered what would happen if a teacher had to cancel an in-class exam because they were allergic to peanuts.
My university has relied upon instructors to remind students about these policies. It boggles my mind when some students fail to understand that these same instructors might be grading their assignments and exams.
I do my best to be courteous when I remind students about these policies. I have less patience for my fellow faculty members who ignore these policies or encourage students to flaunt the rules.
Other readings
Finnegan cites a New York Times article as an inspiration for her policy. The closest article was published on 23 March 2008 and called The tension builds (It’s almost Monday) - not the 25th as Finnegan claims in her post. That article discusses the digital leash that employees willing wear during the weekend as they cheek their work-related email and messages.
Golden Shellback is a coating that is applied to mobile phones and other electronic gadgets. Apparently it requires placing the device in a vacuum chamber. Once the process is complete, the device can be dunked under a foot of water without damage.
The first reviews of the iPhone 3G are coming in, and they are less than glowing. Two of the reviewers are iPhone users who have been using new 3G models provided by Apple for a while.
Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal likes the iTunes App store and 3G bandwidth, but he did not like the shorter battery life. During one day of testing, his iPhone ran out of power.
Mossberg also notes that the AT&T’s new data plan pricing means that the iPhone 3G is more expensive than its predecessor. His article called Newer, Faster, Cheaper iPhone 3G has a video review, and a good amount of detail.
David Pogue of the New York Times has his review in an article called For iPhone, the ‘New’ is Relative. Pogue seems to agree with Mossberg that current iPhone owners shouldn’t rush to the store for a new iPhone.
There’s still no voice dialing, video recording, copy-and-paste, memory-card slot, Bluetooth stereo audio or phone-to-phone photo sending (MMS).
Upgrading to the iPhone 2.0 firmware will provide access to official applications, along with many of the software tweaks in the 3G model like Microsoft Exchange support. The firmware won’t make an old iPhone use 3G frequencies or upgrade an old unit’s psuedo-GPS, however.
I’m less interested in getting an iPhone now, and more interested in looking at an iPod Touch, the WiFi-only cousin of the iPhone. The Touch won’t make phone calls, but I can buy an old unit and add the iPhone 2.0 firmware for $10, or just buy a new model.
Want to see the insides of an iPhone 3G? iFixIt from New Zealand has posted plenty of pictures. At least the battery is no longer soldered onto the board connections!
Image courtesy of dotmotion through a Creative Commons license.
