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Professor Bans Laptops from the Classroom
An anonymous reader writes "USAToday is reporting that students are up in arms over a University of Memphis Professor who has decided to ban laptops from her classroom. Earlier this month Professor Entman sent an email warning to her students to bring paper and pens to take notes and leave the laptops at home. From the article: '"My main concern was they were focusing on trying to transcribe every word that was I saying, rather than thinking and analyzing," Entman said Monday. "The computers interfere with making eye contact. You've got this picket fence between you and the students."'"
If I had owned a laptop, I would have been tempted to use it to record what was said in class while I used paper and pencil to take notes.
I used to know a lawyer who as a law student modified a briefcase so he could conceal a tape recorder to tape his law school classes in the early 70's. From the tapes, he would the lectures to paper and then sell copies of the transcribed lectures to other students. While he was at work making deliveries, he would listen to the tapes instead of the radio as he drove.
My ego? Get a grip - most professors' salaries are pathetic compared to what they could make in industry. You don't go into academia because of ego, you either do it because you love research for the sake of knowledge, or you love teaching.
My aunt once told me that teachers have the biggest egos in the world; I found it rather interesting that she would say this, because she was an English teacher for more than 20 years. However my recent personal experience has supported this. I got a new boss not too long ago and couldn't seem to get along with him no matter how hard I tried, which was something I'd never experienced before. Every time I disagreed with him on a technical issue, he would get so mad you could practically see steam shooting out of his ears. I explained the situation to a friend of mine who worked as a project manager for another company and he asked me to tell him about my new boss. I said, "Well, he's done some programming, some management, and he teaches programming part time at the local university."
"Hold it right there", my friend said. "Every time I've had to work with someone who came out of a university teaching environment, it was very difficult. The reason why is because they come from an environment where they're always right."
He had hit the nail right on the head.
Realizing what type of person I was dealing with, I backed off and quietly tried to just do my job. However after about a month of him constantly looking over my shoulder, rushing me, and criticizing my work, he got what he wanted: I made a mistake on a project. He then pulled me into the VP's office and wrote me up for "poor performance". I then told the VP that I wanted to go back to my old department (a demotion which I gladly accepted), and have since been working happily for a nice boss who has a strong technical background and, more importantly, a laid back personality.
Lesson learned.