Just wondering if this is standard policy now that many laptops come equipped with recording devices? I purchased a laptop specifically for note taking when I began a 2 year nursing program in fall 2007. I am now in the first semester of the 2nd year and we've been told it's a new policy that we're not allowed to use laptops in class. I have never used my computer's recording device to record a lecture (I really doubt it's high quality enough to pick up a lecture, anyway) and I would gladly let my instructor verify this after each class, if necessary.
Does this sound like a common policy or is this another sign that our nursing program is a joke? I'd like to see how the nursing faculty would survive if their computers were pulled from them. I also find it almost laughable that in a world where health care is becoming increasingly dependent on computers, and computer proficiency is becoming a job requirement for nurses, that we're not allowed to use this technology in our classrooms.
I'm so frustrated...do you think it would be worth the effort to fight this new policy? I'm not sure it would do us much good because our faculty is pretty closed minded. Any suggestions?
I think it would be personally distracting . . . like right now I'm surfing allnurses and listening to a talk show on my computer and when I start reading the posts, I don't hear the talk show.
It is disrespectful to the instructor, no matter how boring, to read something else during the lecture.
steph
I'm not talking about boring here. When I check my email during class it's while our instructor is giving us detailed instructions on cooking pork brains and tomato gravy, for example (yes, seriously).
I feel disrespected as a student with the amount of my time that our instructor wastes talking about completely unrelated topics. I haven't seen pork brains and tomato gravy anywhere in my pediatric text book. I would never apologize for the times I've checked my email while she's wasting my time and since I'm paying her to teach me, beyond not being disruptive, I don't really feel I owe her anything. For the record, though, this is the only instructor I've had who I've felt this way about and I had never used the internet during a class until now, and even now, I'm never using the internet when she's actually lecturing.
Just an update...I received an email today saying the following a faculty meeting, the students are now able to use laptops for note taking, but as has always been the policy,no other recording devices are allowed.
That's all very well and good but it is still distracting to your fellow students.
I am in the back row, no one sits on either side of me since our class has dwindled to 21 students. No matter what you think about laptops, I am not distracting anyone. I use my touchpad to move the mouse and it's completely silent. I'm not actually typing emails...just reading and I don't know about you, but I can do that silently, without distracting any one. Really, I can.
P.S.
Distraction was never the reason for our nursing school to come up with the policy, it was about recording devices.
Dealing with distractions, especially in this profession, also builds character..
Absolutely, this is what it will be like in the 'REAL world' when we graduate. Phones ringing while we are assessing patients, people talking to us when we are on the phone, call lights, getting paged, our fellow co-workers 'surfing the net' when they should be working, etc.
But that is not the issue here. We are PAYING for an education, one that should be in a classroom which is conducive to learning. I don't find students sitting in front of me screwing around with Facebook during every lecture as that sort of enviornment, especially one that should be tolerated by ANYONE, including other students and the instructor.
It's bad enough that there are classmates that are busy texting, playing on their Blackberries and/or listening to their MP3 players during lecture (in a tiny classroom, no less). I can't imagine how much more annoying it would be to hear people typing on top of that, especially since I KNOW it wouldn't be class notes that they were typing...
I'm only in pre-reqs right now, so I don't know if it's different in NS, but I use my laptop in almost all my classes. I started using it last year as a freshman and I love being able to take notes on it. It is so much faster and I am very picky about how organized my notes are so it saves me the time of having to redo all my notes. And some of my professors talk so fast or use powerpoints full of information and if I had to write them by hand I would never keep up. Some of my classmates who try to write their notes even ask me for things that they missed sometimes.
I never really thought about if it was annoying to other people (I know it sounds selfish, but no one has ever said anything and I don't notice the noise when its me typing...). Like someone else mentioned, I think the typing is just about as loud as shuffling papers/opening books and it's not like other students cannot hear the instructor over my laptop? Usually in my classes I am not the only one on a laptop - usually a couple others.
About surfing the internet in class - I am very guilty of this, but my reason for surfing is that some of my gen ed classes are so boring and the professors do not even test on what they are talking about in class. I very much doubt that i would be surfing the internet in NS if the prof was talking about something I needed to know! If I did not use the internet in class, I would be soooo bored and probably fall asleep (which seems more rude than looking interested while on the internet).
However, thank you to those who do not like laptops in class because before reading this thread I had never thought about my laptop annoying others and I will be more careful what I use my laptop for or who i am bothering with it (aawww, no more allnurses in class )
To the OP: I'm so glad you're able to use your laptop. I know mine really helps me to stay organized!
I do use my laptop in class, but as it's a tablet, there's no clicky sounds since I write on it instead of type. I also have the screen folded horizontally on top of the keyboard--like a tablet of paper, so if you're watching my screen instead of the Proff....it means you're looking over my shoulder and down onto my table.....so, you've gone out of your way to be minding my business.
It's rare, but I will occasionally have my e-mail open. It's often because I waiting for a specific e-mail so I quickly glance at it to see if the message has arrived. I do standardly keep a search engine window open so that if I have quick questions about the lecture content, I can do real-time searches.
I can write directly on the slides (in full color) with as many different colors as I can think of. I can also copy text or pictures from my e-textbooks to add to my notes. It really does add to my learning.
So, while it's true that generations of people have lived long and happy lives without a laptop....generations of people have also lived long and happy lives without antiperspirant and deodorant and I don't intend to forgo that either just because others have The point is that doing without because others have (or because it builds character???) are both non-reasons. Technology is available, it is fast becoming the standard and I say use your laptop if it helps you learn.
Incidentally, there are plenty of low-tech distracting behaviors that occur in class. If you have a lot of people in a small space....someone's going to be annoyed by something....it's just part of life.
From the previous posts, I find it very interesting that nursing education environments are so far out of step with other academic settings. More and more 'tier one' universities are not only requiring laptops for all students but actually supplying them to every student as part of their student services.
I am paying close attention to the noise from the laptop I am currently working on - it isn't making any 'clicks' from the keyboard. So I would imagine that this particular distraction varies according to the machine one is using. I would also recommend screen filters - they pretty much limit visibility to the immediate straight-on viewer.
I'd like to see how the nursing faculty would survive if their computers were pulled from them. I also find it almost laughable that in a world where health care is becoming increasingly dependent on computers, and computer proficiency is becoming a job requirement for nurses, that we're not allowed to use this technology in our classrooms. 
(which seems more rude than looking interested while on the internet). 
)
The point is that doing without because others have (or because it builds character???) are both non-reasons. Technology is available, it is fast becoming the standard and I say use your laptop if it helps you learn.
mothersuess
31 Posts
I'm not talking about boring here. When I check my email during class it's while our instructor is giving us detailed instructions on cooking pork brains and tomato gravy, for example (yes, seriously).
I feel disrespected as a student with the amount of my time that our instructor wastes talking about completely unrelated topics. I haven't seen pork brains and tomato gravy anywhere in my pediatric text book. I would never apologize for the times I've checked my email while she's wasting my time and since I'm paying her to teach me, beyond not being disruptive, I don't really feel I owe her anything. For the record, though, this is the only instructor I've had who I've felt this way about and I had never used the internet during a class until now, and even now, I'm never using the internet when she's actually lecturing.