Why I don't ban laptops: a thread (1/n)
My goal on the first day of class is to establish reciprocity. Here's what I expect from you; here's what you can expect from me. Here's how we'll learn from each other.
The foundation of that reciprocity is trust. And so I tell my students that they are adults and can use whatever method of taking notes and referencing readings works best for them. I trust them to pay attention regardless.
Banning things and laying out a bunch of don'ts on the first day tells them that I expect them to be poor students, that I don't see them as adults, and that I don't trust them.
If I thought a professor thought that way about me, I may or may not try to prove them wrong, but I certainly wouldn't respect them.
Many of my students have never been expected to do well. It's assumed they'll mess up. And they might—but that can't be the default. That's a foundation for resentment and sullenness, not learning.
And so by letting them know that I expect a lot but that my job is to support them in reaching those expectations, not to treat them like 5-year-olds, I find, more often than not, that they rise to the challenge.
P.S. Banning laptops forces your differently abled students to out themselves and only removes one form of distraction. If students really want to, they'll find another.
P.P.S. If no one is listening, maybe the problem isn't them.
