Nowadays, many students carry more than one digital device such as laptop and PC tablet and they prefer to use this device in class. As I am a college student, I am always thinking that does digital device help students to improve their college education. Even though there are many positive effect of using digital device in class, but I don’t recommend students to use digital devices in classroom. One of the biggest reasons is that it is easy to be disrupted by digital device. Most students who try to use laptop or tablet in class are doing something else as well such as shopping and facebook. As time goes by, they will focus on what they have been up to instead of listing lecture. Moreover, other students will also be disrupted by watching what he or she is doing through digital device. Thus, I believe that it is better not to use digital device in class.
Here is the link for pros and cons of digital devices.
I definitely agree that digital devices can be very distracting especially and a classroom setting. However i think that it really depends on the person using it. One person might feel the need to constantly check their Facebook and another might just be using it to take notes. Their are definitely many cons to using an electronic device in the classroom but I think if a person consciously works on staying on task and using the device to take notes and look up meaning of words and phrases then this would be a very effective tool. That doesn’t mean that this person doesn’t check Facebook on occasion either but the keyword is ‘occasion’ there should be balance as with any behavior.
There is a temptation to do irrelevant things when use a digital device during classes. I am easy to get distracted by using digital devices, therefore I rarely bring laptops or use tablets in class. But I do agree with Jonathan that this really depends on the person who is using it. Although I personally do not take advantage of digital devices in classroom, I see how it effectively helped my classmate to take notes with it when the professor goes really fast. I wonder what will be the classroom look like in 10, 20,30 years. Maybe only digital classrooms will exist in the future.
I think that no matter what or how people argue, technology or technological devices are useful asset to learning in classrooms – as long as its in the TEACHER’S/PROFESSOR’S hands. A teacher can use stuff like projectors, computers, etc to enhance the learning experience and I think that a good base of computer knowledge should be instilled into kids (below 5th grade) but I don’t think that laptops, tablets, cellphones, etc are essential to enhancing the learning experience because there will always be the temptation to do something other than learn and more often than not, that temptation will be acted upon. But, every individual is different and some may be able to resist using their devices inappropriately.
Besides the fact that using a digital device can incline me to focus on other things during class. I find it very hard to just focus on content in general when viewing the information on an electronic screen. Personally, I like to have a hard copy of anything I am reading or any any assignment that I’m doing. Just having that physical copy in my hand makes the learning process easier for me.