Teaching in a connected world - ban the Internet!

Just came across a really interesting blog post - 7 Solutions for Educators Who Want 21st Century Students to Tune In, which appears (according to the about page) to have been written by Lisa Nielsen, a teacher and education innovator based in New York, USA.

It is funny how blogging works. Ms Nielsen's post was in part driven by an education piece at the Boston Globe on how web is getting in the way of learning as it provides a distraction for students from getting the work (learning) done (Tangled in an endless web of distractions). As Ms Nielsen and the Globe article point out, a number of colleges are now thinking about 'unplugging' students and blocking access to some sites, particularly from lecture and seminar rooms. Sorry, but the genie is out of the bottle, and it can't be put back. Even if the WiFi is turned off, you would also have to block signals to smart phones.

I am not going to repeat Ms Nielsen's blog post, here, but I would like to address a three of points raised (the following points are numbered as they appear in the original article):

2) Problem: You are not engaging your students - This is interesting. The argument goes that the problem is the students are not engaged with the learning process. I tried the suggestion mentioned in the blog post last semester, that is, during a lecture I set up a Twitterfall* on one screen, and then showed the lecture slides on another screen (luckily I was in a lecture theatre with two data-projectors and screens). I explained to the students that if they wanted they could take part in the lecture by using their phones and Twitter to post tweets to the Twitterfall screen using a specific hashtag (#). In a 50 minute session I received one tweet in which a student stated that they felt their time would be better spent revising for an exam the next day! In addition, two of a class of 260 commented in post-module feedback that I was obsessed with Twitter and that students didn't want (or need) to know about it! So I tried! And guess what, I am going to try again next year!

4) Problem: You never shut up - Proposed solution, tape your lectures, and then do something fun in the session. Not a bad idea for a seminar, but not wildly practical in a lecture theatre with 280+ students! I hate to say it, but there is still a place and time for a good ol' fashion lecture!

5) Problem: I don’t need to hear you telling me something I can look up - Now, this I agree with, and when teaching I try to 'point' the students towards what they should be reading and thinking about, and if possible provide a simplified overview of underlying themes and trends in the subject being covered. This can be tough, and not all students will get it. But again, it is worth trying.

Anyway, if you feel that the Internet is getting in the way of your teaching, and that student are more engaged with using the Internet during your classes instead of listening to what is being taught or taking part with class activities, and you really feel that you would like to ban access to the Internet in your teaching room, then I really recommend you read Ms Nielsen's post before you ask your local IT guys to shutdown the WiFi.

* Twitterfall is browser based twitter client that runs real time searches. I have seen it used at a number of conferences very effectively, hence my reason for introducing it to the students in a lecture. The way the system works is you set up a search for a specific hashtag (a hashtag is a word with a # in front, and you include that word in your tweet) and any tweets that contain the hashtag will appear on the screen in realtime.