No laptops during lectures - the congregation agrees! But We Don't.

We couldn't have possibly foreseen what a stir the post one of our readers wrote would have caused. Firstly, The Times picked up on it and painted it as a much bigger picture than it actually is. Then, of course, other bloggers decided it was their turn to add the proverbial two cents' worth.

The story was therefore twisted in such a way (by everyone) that the gist of the student's post was lost before it could actually see the light of day.

So much so that no sooner had The Times published the story than a myriad of people felt the urge to chime in and make their concern public - irrespective of how irritatingly distorted that was.

Those who are not new to this blog know very well that if there's one view that we endorse, that would certainly be the fact that everybody has the right to air their views. Having said that, we do believe that some ideas being promulgated are pointless and, more often than not, totally extraneous to the real point.

What was the student thinking when he wrote that post? How very dare he claim the right to having the possibility of using a laptop during a lecture?

He might not have been in the cold light of day when he wrote it - possibly, with the privilege of hindsight, he might be regretting it now. That's for him to ponder on.

That notwithstanding, one can't help but notice that the "twerp" raised a valid point. Whether you agree that this is newsworthy or not is beside the point. That's why we approved of it and uploaded it - which, yes, translates in our support for his opinion.

In this post we would like to redirect you to the real essence of that blessed post. To those who clearly got the wrong end of the stick we say: this was NOT an attack on lecturers. Why and how some people thought it was is really beyond us. Saying that it was rude of us to publish that post is nonsensical. Really. We appreciate how tough a lecturer's job can be - as a matter of fact, back when the lecturing body had put forward a plea for a salary increase, we were two of the very few to support them publicly, sending a letter to The Times.

That said, as students we too have had our share of exceptionally erudite lecturers who, possibly, are second to none in their respective fields, yet are clueless when it comes to delivering a lecture. Alas, some of them believe that all you need is a thorough knowledge of the subject they are lecturing in. Little do they know that that's only half of the equation.

Many individuals stated that students should merely stay at home if they find a particular lecture uninteresting. Fair enough. Clearly, these people have never been University students. They cannot be blamed for not being acquainted with the fact that many faculties endorse the policy that a student must attend lectures in order to be able to sit for the respective exams. Therefore, no, they cannot just sit at home.

By no means are we saying that students should attend lectures only for that little signature next to their name. At times, however, you cannot totally blame students for preferring to skive lectures.

Why? Many lectures are known for leaving massive packs of notes at selected stationeries for students to buy; others simply send endless powerpoint presentations via e-mail for students to peruse (to those who do attend as well as those who choose not to). Consequently, students who are compelled to go to lectures feel they are wasting time in doing so, as often, nothing new is learnt during said lectures.

Is this the case with all lectures and lecturers? Certainly not.

Which leads us to our next point - Generalisation. This is something we utterly loathe. Words such as 'everyone' and 'body' end to rank rather high in our list of pet peeves. Hence, it is only natural that when we read utterances such as 'the typical student' or 'today's generation of students', our blood boils, quite literally. Because students nowadays "think[ing] that everything revolves around them and their needs." Yes we're sure that's quite the case, Ms Depares. Even though she introduced her blogpost by voicing her disapproval of generalisation, this blogger persisted in falling in the same trap - tarring everyone with the same brush. Indeed, she wasn't the only person doing this. Many people commenting randomly about this subject painted a rather disappointing picture of the students.

Now, back to the original issue - the banning of laptops and tablets in the lecture room. Why assume that all students making use of technology are doing so for reasons other than note-taking? Wouldn't that be as fallacious as chucking all lecturers in one basket and claiming they're all incapable of lecturing? Although it might come as a surprise to some, the literate students (as opposed to the plethora of illiterate ones that make it out of University with a degree, as Ms Depares generously pointed out) go beyond using the internet merely for Facebook and games (among others). While professors/lecturers would be explaining certain matters, many a student looks up keywords and any other related material on the net, and merely pastes the link next to their notes. This, we vouch, comes in really handy when one is revising. Much as we love our pens and notepads, the same cannot be done when using them.

In spite of this, one must take account of those people whose attention span is little longer than that of a - yeah, you guessed it - buzzing fly. (Thanks to J'accuse for the clever little illustration, by the way!) We're not saying that if you have a short attention span you can do whatever you please, lest we're misinterpreted again. Yet, why stop a student who doesn't want to pay attention from doing whatever they like, as long as they don't disrupt the lecture or distract other students?


Moreover, people out there can't possibly think that it is only now that students have started to be distracted. Having a laptop or an iPad is irrelevant, really. If it's not a laptop it will be scribbling on your notepad or chit-chatting to your neighbour. What do we do next? We ask our students not to bring pen and paper because students might end up doodling hearts with arrows running through them? No. We shall do nothing. It's the students' problem if they miss out. Full-stop.

Finally, the most irritating of recurring comments comes from those upset tax payers who seem to have one too many chips on their shoulders. They probably feel free education is unnecessary, or at best, that students benefitting from their tax-paying generosity should shut their gob and lump what they are given without so much as uttering a word. Beggars can't be choosers after all, can they?

The day students will be told not to complain because they get their education for free will be the day our education will fail. We are far from baffled when we see certain commentators say such things - but when it's the students themselves who claim this, well, you just can't help banging your head against the wall.