All electronics banned?

Nursing Students General Students

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I was curious if any other programs have a "no electronic devices allowed" rule for lectures or clinicals. No computers, netbooks, voice recorders, or pdas/cell-phones with apps.

I'm very disappointed in that policy, since I take usually take notes on my Macbook twice as fast as I can write. I feel like they are fighting technology instead of embracing it.

thanks,

Kurt

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

There is a posting in youtube about people playing games, surfing and facebooking non-stop during lectures (its a huge lecture hall).

Also, some people are bothered by the constant clicking of a keyboard, if you are in a small classroom there isn't a way to get away from it.

Some instructors are a little paranoid about being taped, edited and ridiculed on something like youtube. THere is also the problem of intellectual copyright; I wrote those lectures and slides, you have the right to them for class but not for publication.

I allow voice recordings (especially for the hearing impaired student who needed it), with the clear understanding that my voice was not to be reproduced elsewhere in any way. And was thoroughly annoyed to find 2 students taping a demonstration without asking either myself or the student volunteering in the demo. You really need to have permission to take someone's photograph in anyway in a private setting.

Its protection of privacy, IMO. Banning everything is easier than trying to set or judge limits.

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Many students bring their laptops to class and all of them use it to access their facebook account. They don't pay attention and they ask questions that have already been answered.You can survive without a laptop,I am sure you learned how to hand write before you learned to type. Don't depend on technology for everything. I am okay if they ban cellphones because 90% of my class texts during lecture (every 5 sec). I just don't see why voice recorders are not allowed...there's nothing you can do with those but record.

Technology is great, makes things easier but one day a computer might crash, your calculator might break etc--

When I go to restaurants I see people pulling out their calc for tips.Crazy.

My school allows electronics but I don't use any.

I love my writing.

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Specializes in Psych.

We dont have rules about electronics in lecture really, except that your cell phone must be off and you must have permission to audio-tape lectures, but there are NO PDA's/cell phones, etc allowed in clinical, which sucks because I bought the phone I have now because I thought I would be able to use the nursing apps you can get for it in clinical instead of lugging around 50 pounds of books.

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Specializes in ED.

I had two teachers last semester that did not allow laptops of any kind, recorders, or PDAs. The swore up and down that they were going to have more interactive lectures and we would do group work in class, etc. Know how many times we actually did that? ONCE!!!! By the mid-term, everyone got really bored and basically quit coming to classes. There were no power points or any other outlines or anything to go by so it was really hard to keep up. I'm an older student so I had already done one round of college the "old fashioned way" with rocks and chisels but I still couldn't keep up. I can type WAY faster than I can write.

I know there is the argument that laptops distract when other students are on FB or other websites but quite honestly, I've never once been distracted if the lectures were remotely interesting to begin with. I try really hard to stay on my slides and class stuff during class but I sometimes need a little brain break and read my email or whatever.

I get WAY more distracted by the girls that clang their 20 metal bangly bracelets or chomp ice or smack their gum or carry on entire conversations in class but do the teachers 'ban' that? Hail no!

ok, i'm off my soap box now.

You can have your thread back now.

meredith

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I'm about to start classes at OHSU in Oregon, and we've been encouraged to use whatever portable devices we feel comfortable with, and we're required to have laptops. I am grateful as my writing is miserable after 10 years in construction. Lumber pencils and 2x4s have ruined my writing. Besides, the hospital I work at as a CNA uses all computer charting anyway.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

My A&P II professor wanted us to go all electronic and get rid of books, he encouraged laptops, etc in class. I have hearing issues and I love my Smartpen, I might be able to use it to record nursing lectures, but I can not transcribe it to my computer. They state HIPPA as the reason???

I do hate constant keyboarding, Facebooking, but worse - cell phones vibrating the entire table, distracting everyone else. I love my phone apps, I keep mine on silent and it helps to reference other materials, during the lecture/lab.

I guess I wont be getting my money's worth, so much for the technology.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
You can survive without a laptop,I am sure you learned how to hand write before you learned to type. Don't depend on technology for everything.
For some of us, it's not a matter of "surviving" nor a matter of "depending." It's simply a matter of utilizing technology for what it's for -- to improve efficiency.

Given that most faculty I've come across are minimally literate with technology, I'm not surprised at their resistance to its utilization.

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My handwriting is awful, so I hate professors that don't let me use my netbook in class. Plus I can type faster then I write. And I can organize it better so if the professor is all over my notes don't have lines and arrows all over the page!

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The professor did mention that we could blame past students on these policies. I guess it only takes a few people to mess it up for everyone else.

My handwriting is awful as well, and I type probably twice as fast as I write. What I plan to do is just type all my handwritten notes after class while it's fresh and study from that. Going through all the notes twice can't hurt. :)

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I think it is too bad that this attitude is being taken because of a few bad apples in the past. I sat in a classroom one time where one lady sat in a front row seat and had her recorder sitting out on her desk for all the world to see. She told me she had not asked the instructor for permission to record, she just did it. I would suggest you consider a Pulse Smartpen system.

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Specializes in SNU/SNF/MedSurg, SPCU Ortho/Neuro/Spine.

I think some people abuse the system... and then the crowd pays the price.

I used to love to have my laptop to google in picture of the things we were talking about, and things like that..

I used to note-take no paper and then type it pretty!

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