It appears that a department at USC bans laptops for taking notes. I know about the odd teacher that would ban laptops and such, but I've never heard of a department policy banning them. Laptops are placed in the same category as cell phones and iPods, which really makes no sense to me. I use a laptop because I have problems with handwriting, not to goof off in class, damn it.
Is this a USC thing, or is this common? I've never had this problem at my community college, except again, one odd teacher that hated computers enough to actually make and use transparencies.
Never heard of it. I kinda wanna sit in a lecture hall now and see the growth in laptop use since I graduated three years ago. I imagine it's significant even in three years.
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Haven't heard of a concrete department policy banning them before, but they were rarely used in my undergrad school, and some professors banned them. Just started law school, and so far around 2/3 of our class is using laptops to take notes.
I hope not. While you can take notes faster with a laptop, it's a very small improvement to learning (you don't need to and should not copy down every word being said) and I seriously doubt most high school kids will be able to resist the temptation to use the internet during class.
While you can take notes faster with a laptop, it's a very small improvement to learning (you don't need to and should not copy down every word being said)
In my case though, I can't write very fast nor very neatly. I've never been able to do so, and it's been like this since I was a kid. That's why I rely on laptops for taking notes. When I used to rely on paper notes, I would miss way too much information and rely on the book, and the teachers at USC seem to not care much about the book.
I looked at more syllabi, and it seems like all my classes for my major ban laptops. I'm mad now.
I loathe writing notes by hand. Even if I'm off-track at some points there is a direct correlation between classes where I use my laptop a lot and higher grades.
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To be honest, I don't expect much from faculty in general. When I was homeschooled, I used to see formal education as being full of BS, either from teachers, departments, administrators, accreditation groups, exam makers, and so on. I haven't been homeschooled in years, but I still feel that way. I don't go to school expecting much from anyone there. I'm just there to get a piece of paper with my name on it, and make connections with people. I've never been particularly impressed with any formal school system.
I honestly don't know why Ulti said that. Over here at least, the USC faculty are highly respected and considered very good, certainly one of the best in California.
Maybe because it's a big research university, I guess. Some people like Smuffin have an axe to grind with prestigious universities, which employ top researchers for whom teaching is not the top priority.
Maybe because it's a big research university, I guess. Some people like Smuffin have an axe to grind with prestigious universities, which employ top researchers for whom teaching is not the top priority.
That might be it. I was kind of unsure about USC for this reason, actually. It's also why I didn't bother with any of the University of California universities.
no offense, but that's a pretty terrible major imo
i've heard a few professors tell me that going to school for business is one of the silliest things a person can do, because such a vast amount of the things that entail business administration are a combination of practicality and common sense, things that you are more than capable of learning as you go. the only redemptive thing is planning, but the value of that shouldn't be overstated - a good plan does not mean a good business.
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Eh. It's not exactly my first choice of major, but the majors I actually wanted more would require me to spend more time in community college. I'm one of those financial aid people, so the financial aid department at my community college threatened to cut me off, which would kick me out of the school despite having a high GPA and all that simply due to economics (I can't afford college without financial aid). Business administration is my backup major that would allow me to get out quicker so I could at least have a BS degree. I really wanted to do computer science, though, and I'd like to get that for my master's degree. I was also considering engineering, and things in the sciences. I've always loved that stuff, but financial aid is known for being unfriendly to those kinds of majors. Financial aid seems to be nicer to people with majors in the social sciences, humanities, arts, etc.
Anyway, sleep now. I have to be well-rested for USC tomorrow. >_>
That happened to the guys a year above me for the rest of the semester. It's their own damn fault for hosting a DotA tournament in the middle of class, really.
Have you been taking CS classes? It's not the kind of thing where you can jump into a masters program without knowing the undergrad stuff pretty well (same with most other science/engineering disciplines).
First thought: Financial aid offices change your aid based on what your major is?
Second thought: That actually makes sense, and there would be a good reason why they give less aid to math/science majors- because your job prospects are better coming out with those, so you "need" less aid.
Have you been taking CS classes? It's not the kind of thing where you can jump into a masters program without knowing the undergrad stuff pretty well (same with most other science/engineering disciplines).
I know some of it pretty well. I've done a lot of programming and such, but I haven't done junior and senior level stuff.
First thought: Financial aid offices change your aid based on what your major is?
Not directly, but they tend to yell at you if you have too many units or take too long. Computer science is a high unit major in many schools, so I know too many CS majors that have financial aid problems.
But yeah, I've never heard of a department banning laptops before. I would suggest the same thing others have. Just talk to your profs and explain your situation. If they're not dicks they should be willing to help you out. But. You know. There's a very good chance a lot of them are dicks. So.
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red sox 777 posted... First thought: Financial aid offices change your aid based on what your major is?
Second thought: That actually makes sense, and there would be a good reason why they give less aid to math/science majors- because your job prospects are better coming out with those, so you "need" less aid.
I would think the opposite, give the good majors more money because they're more likely to be able to pay off their loan.
Theon_Greyjoy posted... In my classes it was usually the nerds who brought laptops to class.
Maybe it's changed in the last few years.
Seriously the ONLY time I ever saw a laptop in class was on presentation day because people are paranoid about files they made on computer working on another. Thats literally it though.
As someone who has been a graduate teaching assistant for three years, I fully support banning laptops from classrooms. I understand it being easier to take notes, but in my experience, the majority of students who brought their laptops to class goofed off on the internet or played games during class.
If you have bad handwriting or are slow with a pen, that's tough. Get faster, or bring a cassette recorder.
i've heard a few professors tell me that going to school for business is one of the silliest things a person can do, because such a vast amount of the things that entail business administration are a combination of practicality and common sense, things that you are more than capable of learning as you go. the only redemptive thing is planning, but the value of that shouldn't be overstated - a good plan does not mean a good business.
thats just an odd statement. Whether you learn anything or not, most businesses aren't going to hire you because you have that history major you learned so much from. But eitherway, most business adm majors make you take a pretty wide array of classes, to the point where I feel most will learn a decent amount.
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colliding posted... As someone who has been a graduate teaching assistant for three years, I fully support banning laptops from classrooms. I understand it being easier to take notes, but in my experience, the majority of students who brought their laptops to class goofed off on the internet or played games during class.
If you have bad handwriting or are slow with a pen, that's tough. Get faster, or bring a cassette recorder.
The other side to that coin though, is if they want to sit on their laptop and goof off during class what's it to you? As long as they're not being disruptive. They're the ones paying for the class. Or if not, they're still the ones that are going to have to take the test/write the term paper/do the project in the end, so they're only hurting themselves.
I mean I'm not going to lie. There were some days in undergrad where I went to class and sat on facebook the whole time. But I still went to class that day because even though I just sat online I could still hear what the prof. had to say.
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CrimsonOcean posted... colliding posted... As someone who has been a graduate teaching assistant for three years, I fully support banning laptops from classrooms. I understand it being easier to take notes, but in my experience, the majority of students who brought their laptops to class goofed off on the internet or played games during class.
If you have bad handwriting or are slow with a pen, that's tough. Get faster, or bring a cassette recorder.
The other side to that coin though, is if they want to sit on their laptop and goof off during class what's it to you? As long as they're not being disruptive. They're the ones paying for the class. Or if not, they're still the ones that are going to have to take the test/write the term paper/do the project in the end, so they're only hurting themselves.
I mean I'm not going to lie. There were some days in undergrad where I went to class and sat on facebook the whole time. But I still went to class that day because even though I just sat online I could still hear what the prof. had to say.
Enough with this crap. They're students. I'm a teacher. It's my job. They're not only hurting themselves, they're hurting my job performance and my authority. Just because you paid to go to school that doesn't mean you're allowed to do whatever you want there. Especially if you're just a T.A., it is not good for you to just have a ton of students fail. It's their fault, but it's my responsibility.
Again, with the slow handwriting thing, you need to develop a shorthand, or take less notes, or get a recorder.
Funny thing, my accounting teacher says that his class is copyrighted, and I need express written consent to do things like show class material to people outside of class. Nobody is actually going to care about that, but I would imagine that he probably dislikes voice recorders. We'll see, though. Without a laptop, this is going to be a tough semester, especially with accounting. Without a voice recorder...augh.
LeonhartFour posted... From: colliding | #042 Again, with the slow handwriting thing, you need to develop a shorthand, or take less notes, or get a recorder. I had professors who wouldn't let you use recorders either.
Okay, now that is going too far. That's just people who get off on you giving your wrist a cramp... lol
colliding posted... CrimsonOcean posted... colliding posted... As someone who has been a graduate teaching assistant for three years, I fully support banning laptops from classrooms. I understand it being easier to take notes, but in my experience, the majority of students who brought their laptops to class goofed off on the internet or played games during class.
If you have bad handwriting or are slow with a pen, that's tough. Get faster, or bring a cassette recorder.
The other side to that coin though, is if they want to sit on their laptop and goof off during class what's it to you? As long as they're not being disruptive. They're the ones paying for the class. Or if not, they're still the ones that are going to have to take the test/write the term paper/do the project in the end, so they're only hurting themselves.
I mean I'm not going to lie. There were some days in undergrad where I went to class and sat on facebook the whole time. But I still went to class that day because even though I just sat online I could still hear what the prof. had to say.
Enough with this crap. They're students. I'm a teacher. It's my job. They're not only hurting themselves, they're hurting my job performance and my authority. Just because you paid to go to school that doesn't mean you're allowed to do whatever you want there. Especially if you're just a T.A., it is not good for you to just have a ton of students fail. It's their fault, but it's my responsibility.
Again, with the slow handwriting thing, you need to develop a shorthand, or take less notes, or get a recorder.
I TA as well and the trend i noticed was that people bring laptops even if the course is discussion based. At the point where youre goofing off on fb or playing a game on steam you likely ARENT going to be taking part in the discussion, at which point youre basically cutting my class. I have seen like two people ever actually use it for note taking.
And yes, if forced to take notes you WILL get better/faster.
LeonhartFour posted... From: colliding | #042 Again, with the slow handwriting thing, you need to develop a shorthand, or take less notes, or get a recorder. I had professors who wouldn't let you use recorders either.
Enough with this crap. They're students. I'm a teacher. It's my job. They're not only hurting themselves, they're hurting my job performance and my authority. Just because you paid to go to school that doesn't mean you're allowed to do whatever you want there. Especially if you're just a T.A., it is not good for you to just have a ton of students fail. It's their fault, but it's my responsibility.
your "authority", it's a college class, not high school or middle school. Are you kidding me? I've never seen any college teacher, TA or otherwise, have any real problem with authority. And to say everyone is going to fail because a few people are screwing around on laptops is silly. The people who care will do well, the people who don't probably won't. Although generally, in a small classroom, I almost never see anyone screwing around unless the teacher/class is incredibly terrible.
I just find it funny how your viewpoint is PEOPLE NEED TO DO WELL, yet they only are allowed to do well your way. I thought teachers were supposed to understand how certain people learn better in different ways?
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omg did u red text from last night dats so me LMAO : ) im not a slut i jus liek 2 haev fun LOL : )