Laptops May Be the Ultimate Classroom Distraction 課堂保衛戰：電腦靠邊站

Nicole+Glass

The screen to my left displayed my classmates Facebook as she scrolled through hundreds of her friends photos. To my right， a student was shopping for dresses from the Lilly Pulitzer store.

The sound of fast-paced typing echoed throughout the class of 20—but no one was taking notes. Some were writing papers for other classes， while others stared blankly at websites they hoped would entertain them.

As I looked around， a hint of sadness struck me as I watched my professor tell stories that no one was listening to and jokes that no one laughed at. Did he even realize？ Everyone was glued to a laptop screen—online shopping， answering emails， chatting or finishing assignments for other classes.

It is difficult to find a college classroom that bans laptops—and their distracting presence adds even more challenge to the classroom learning environment.

A 2010 study conducted by a University of Colorado professor found that students who used laptops in class averaged 11% worse on tests than those who took notes the “old-fashioned way.” The professor， Diane Siebert， found that at the end of her semester-long class， students using laptops averaged a grade of 71%， “almost the same as the average for the students who didnt come at all，” she said.

While some professors might be aware of the endless distractions glaring from screens around their classroom， others have too much trust in their students. Most students who choose to distract themselves keep a Word document or an assigned reading minimized， in case the professor tries to sneak a peek at their screen.

But based on student behavior， its often easy to tell if they are surfing the web.

American University Professor G. Borden Flanagan described an incident in which a student was noticeably surfing the Internet. She nudged the person next to her， shifted the laptop and winked as she displayed a web page on the screen. After the student began laughing， Flanagan knew she was doing something else.

“It was mostly the smirk1） and the laughter and the swiveling2） of the laptop that made it so completely obvious，” he said.

But even the less obvious cases of distraction often dont go unnoticed. American University Professor W. Joseph Campbell has banned laptops in his classes for years after noticing students absentmindedly type away on their keyboards， occasionally cracking a smile at their inanimate3） computers and holding back from class discussions. Campbell says he can always tell when a student is distracted.

“The temptations are there，” he said. “Everyone would succumb to4） them， I think， if the laptops were open.”

When the class discussion slows or a professor provides his own notes of the lecture， its even easier to drift off.

“I use my laptop if the class is really boring，” American University student Ruben Musca told The Eagle5）. “I take notes， but when there is a lull in the class I buy stuff on e-Bay.”

Still， Campbell says his opposition to the devices is slowly crumbling as the world becomes more digitalized and laptop use becomes an expectation.

“The laptops are giving way to iPads and other tablet-like devices， and it could be that eventually theyll be so ubiquitous that it might be kind of funny to hear a professor ask to have them turned off，” he said.

Laptops allow students to more rapidly take notes， as well as pull up digitalized versions of their assigned readings. But Flanagan， who teaches political theory， says that even if students focus and use their laptops solely for taking notes， it can detract from6） individual thinking and active discussions.

Students rapidly typing up notes turn into “court reporters” that create， perhaps， an accurate account of the class without ever gaining a proper understanding of the material， said Flanagan. This issue is particularly pertinent7） in discussion and analysis based classes， like political theory or philosophy. Additionally， the ease of sharing computerized notes may further detract from the learning experience.

“When people take notes on the laptop， then there becomes sort of this black market in notes，” he said. “Students share notes. And the problem with that is that people feel less inclined to pay very close attention in class.”

Looking back at my four years in college， the classes in which I constantly used my laptop are mostly a blur—even those in which I used it solely for note taking. My most vivid academic memories come from classes that had a strict no-laptop rule. The professors I got to know and kept in contact with are only those I felt like interacting with in discussion-based classes. Hiding behind a screen is one of my biggest regrets. While laptops are convenient， part of the experience of learning is the challenge of trying to retain and understand information while knowing its not digitally stored.

“Its easy enough to argue that the more technology does for us cognitively， the less we have to do and the less we will do—and the softer our minds get，” Flanagan said. “The way technology is marketed to us is that it will make so much more possible， that well really be able to free ourselves from the menial8） tasks of cognitive work. But Im not sure I buy that. Technology will win in terms of accuracy， but having to piece things together9） yourself is just really crucial.”

我左邊的電腦屏幕上顯示的是我同學的Facebook個人主頁，她正滾動瀏覽好友上傳的幾百張照片。我右邊的同學正在莉莉·普利策（編注：美國時裝品牌）的網站上選購裙子。

20人的教室里回響著快速敲擊鍵盤的聲音，但卻沒有一個人是在記筆記。一些人正在趕其他課程的論文，另一些人則木然地盯著網頁，希望能從中找點樂子。

我環顧四周，眼看教授講的故事沒有人聽，講的笑話也沒有人笑，我感到些許悲傷。他甚至都沒意識到嗎？所有人都盯著筆記本電腦屏幕——網購、回郵件、聊天或者寫其他課程的作業。

很難發現哪個大學課堂禁止使用筆記本電腦，但筆記本電腦的存在會使學生分心，這給課堂學習環境增加了更多挑戰。

科羅拉多大學的一位教授在2010年進行的一項研究發現，在課堂上用筆記本電腦的學生比用“老式方法”記筆記的學生在考試中的平均成績要低11%。這位教授名為戴安娜·西伯特，她發現在她一個學期的課程結束時，使用筆記本電腦的學生的平均成績是71%。“這幾乎和根本不來上課的學生的平均成績一樣。”她說。

有些教授可能意識到了教室中的電腦屏幕所散發出的無盡誘惑，但其他教授則過于相信他們的學生了。大多數想用電腦消遣一下的學生都會把一個Word文檔或是一篇指定的閱讀材料最小化，以防教授試圖偷看一眼他們的屏幕。

但是，根據學生的行為舉止，教授通常很容易判斷學生是否在上網沖浪。

美利堅大學教授G·博登·弗拉納根講述了學生明顯在上網沖浪的一個例子。那個學生用手肘輕推了一下旁邊的同學，轉動電腦屏幕，然后一邊展示屏幕上的網頁一邊使眼色。那個同學大笑了起來，弗拉納根就意識到她在做與課堂無關的事。

“主要是傻笑、大笑以及旋轉電腦的動作讓事情太明顯了。”弗拉納根說。

但即便是一些不那么明顯的分心通常也逃不過教授的法眼。美利堅大學教授W·約瑟夫·坎貝爾多年來一直禁止學生在他的課上使用筆記本電腦。此前，他曾發現學生心不在焉地用鍵盤打字，偶爾還對著他們那沒有生命的電腦咧著嘴笑，對課堂討論也不積極。坎貝爾說學生分心時他總能看出來。

“誘惑就在那里，”他說，“我覺得只要電腦開著，每個人都會忍不住。”

在課堂討論節奏放緩或者教授提供講義的情況下，學生更容易走神。

“如果課堂內容很無聊，我就會用筆記本電腦，”美利堅大學學生魯賓·穆斯卡在接受《鷹報》采訪時說，“我會用它記筆記，但在課堂間歇時也會在e-Bay上購物。”

盡管如此，坎貝爾說他的筆記本電腦禁令漸漸行不通了，因為世界變得更加數字化，使用筆記本電腦成為理所應當的事。

“筆記本電腦正在被iPad和其他平板類設備所取代。最終，這些電子設備可能會變得無處不在。如果哪個教授要求關閉電子設備，那可能會讓人覺得有些可笑。”他說。

筆記本電腦使學生記筆記更快，也使他們可以看電子版的指定閱讀材料。但是教政治理論課的弗拉納根卻說即便學生專心聽講，使用筆記本電腦只是為了記筆記，那也會影響他們進行獨立思考和積極參與課堂討論。

弗拉納根說，快速打字記筆記的學生變成了“法院書記員”，他們也許把課堂內容記錄得一字不差，但是根本沒有正確理解這些材料。這個問題與政治理論課和哲學課這類以討論和分析為主的課程尤其相關。此外，用電腦做的筆記很容易分享，這可能會讓學習效果再打折扣。

“學生用筆記本電腦記筆記會形成一種‘筆記黑市，”弗拉納根說，“他們會互相分享筆記，但問題是這樣一來，他們上課時就不那么愿意認真聽講了。”

回想我的四年大學時光，我對課上經常使用筆記本電腦的課程的印象已經基本模糊了——即便在有些課上筆記本電腦只是用來記筆記。而我最清晰的學習記憶來自那些嚴禁使用筆記本電腦的課程。我了解并保持聯絡的教授都是那些在以討論為主的課堂上我喜歡與之互動的教授。把臉藏在電腦屏幕的后面是我最后悔的事情之一。筆記本電腦的確很方便，但是在知道信息未經電子存儲的情況下努力記憶、理解信息，這種挑戰正是學習經歷的一部分。

“顯然，技術在我們的認知過程中做得越多，我們需要做的就越少，我們也將做得越少——我們的頭腦就會越不靈光，”弗拉納根說，“人們在向我們推銷技術時說它可以讓更多事情成為可能，可以做到把我們從乏味的認知活動中真正解脫出來，但是我不確定我認同這一點。技術在準確性上會更勝一籌，但是自己通過拼湊零散的信息把事物弄清楚真的很重要。”

1. smirk [sm??（r）k] n. 傻笑

2. swivel [?sw?v（?）l] vt. 使旋轉

3. inanimate [?n??n?m?t] adj. 無生命的

4. succumb to：屈從；讓步

5. The Eagle：《鷹報》，美國得克薩斯州的一份報紙，創辦于1889年。

6. detract from：有損于，貶低

7. pertinent [?p??（r）t?n?nt] adj. 相關的，貼切的

8. menial [?mi?ni?l] adj. （工作、職業）不體面的；乏味的

9. piece together：拼湊信息以弄清（真相）