Less Tech, better discussions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Elizabeth Drummond, an associate professor of history at Loyola Marymount University, was discouraged by how students\u2019 use of laptops and tablets in class was dampening conversation. Not only were students distracted by their own screens, they were distracting their classmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So Drummond borrowed an idea from a colleague and banned screens while introducing collaborative note-taking. The results, she writes, have been \u201ctransformative.\u201d Students are engaged and talking with one another, and they appreciate the respite from their laptops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drummond began using this approach in the fall of 2024 and has had a successful three semesters since. Her classes are relatively small and include both lower- and upper-division courses that enroll between 15 and 28 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how her strategy works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s sometimes some grumbling at the beginning, but students quickly adapt, and many come to appreciate the low-tech\/no-tech classroom,\u201d writes Drummond. \u201cThe assigned note-takers each day understand that they have a responsibility to their classmates and almost always take better notes than I saw from students when they were all taking their own notes. [Students] are freed up from trying to \u2018get down everything\u2019 in the notes and able to be more engaged in the class, because they know that we have a class notebook with a set of notes available to all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She has found that this method also serves students with accommodations, almost all of whom have opted not to use their computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drummond reports that the class dynamic has improved significantly. \u201cClass discussions have been more vibrant. In the case of a student who has been in a class with me where I allowed computers and a class where I did not allow them, that student\u2019s performance has improved dramatically \u2014 that\u2019s a function of the student\u2019s improved work ethic, but the student has also said that not having the computer in class has helped significantly. Another thing that I\u2019ve noticed is that students are interacting with each other more in those minutes before class, rather than all being locked in on their screens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m intrigued by this idea of how limiting technology can improve classroom dynamics. Have you tried anything similar in your class and found that students have become more present? If so, write to me at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com<\/u><\/a> or fill out this Google form<\/u><\/a>. Your example may appear in a future newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
ICYMI – low-tech edition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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