Okay, this is a different kind of “scholarly communication” than the kind I usually write about… I’ve been seeing more information recently about students texting while in class, from innocuous chatting with friends all the way to sending information during exams. This morning, Inside Higher Ed posted a
“Quick Take” report on a study conducted on in-class texting at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania:
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Wilkes University Professors Examine Use of Text Messaging in the College Classroom
A whopping 91% of the students surveyed responded that they have used their cell phones to text during class time! (Only 3% admitted to doing it to send information about an exam while they were taking it, though.)
Professors have a wide range of responses to texting in their classrooms, from a Syracuse University professor who walked out on his class after seeing a student texting in the front row:
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If You Text in Class, This Prof Will Leave (Inside Higher Ed)
to this professor at Georgia State University who
encourages his students to text during class…in order to send questions to him, that is:
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Professor Encourages Texting In Class (NPR)
Faculty, students, what do you think? Is texting during class common at Northeastern? Is it a distraction, or is it no big deal?
Photo courtesy of Tommy Huynh.