A college professor’s rule: Turn off that cell phone and learn
Here is another good piece by Rick Diguette, a writer who teaches English at a local college.
By Rick Diguette
My students learn on the first day of each semester that their cell phones must be turned off when class begins and remain off until class ends. There are negative consequences if they fail to abide by this rule. One is that they lose points toward their final grade; this normally gets their attention.
Show me a student who isn’t obsessed with his or her grades and you just might be dealing with a visitor from a galaxy far, far away.
Since day one my cell phone rule has received its fair share of criticism, and not only from students. Some colleagues consider it Draconian at best, Neolithic at worst. I’ve been reminded that this is the 21st century, while also being counseled to develop a sense of humor, locate a good shrink, and/or get out of the teaching profession.
If you thought the halls of English departments always echo with the sound of melodious harps, I have news for you. Otherwise well-mannered people who quote Shakespeare and William Butler Yeats can be witheringly opinionated.
I wasn’t always hard-nosed about cell phones. Once upon a time I accepted the fact that some students would rather be texting than listening to me. But it also seemed reasonable to believe that inveterate texters were capable of learning despite sending and receiving text messages all the time. Then I had a change of heart.
With each passing semester it seemed to me that more and more students were helpless to ignore their cell phones for even a few seconds at a time. That’s when I decided that my laissez-faire attitude might be contributing to another negative consequence. I was enabling behavior that had the potential to impede learning.
So what if serial texting impedes learning? If students would rather do that than almost anything else, why not let them? If their grades suffer as a result, maybe they will change their ways. After all, learning how to prioritize is an invaluable lesson they will have to learn sooner or later. And who said the onus is on me to make sure that everyone actually learns something? There’s at least one problem with this line of reasoning.
Whether we are willing to admit this or not our peers exert an inordinate amount of influence on us, especially when we are young and highly image conscious. We are also imitative creatures by nature.
In the classroom this can result in a synergy, the effect of which is that students who are interested in learning may come to believe that since everyone else is texting they might as well be doing the same. Pretty soon, or so it seems to me, no one is learning anything.
My duty as a teacher extends to every student in every one of my classes —to those who can learn under almost any conditions, no matter how distracting, as well as to those who can not. And although attending college is a matter of choice, all students should have the opportunity to learn something even if they think the act of sending and receiving text messages ranks right up there in the scale of importance with birth, death, and beer pong.
I know I can’t force anyone to learn, but I can structure the classroom environment to facilitate learning. That is what my cell phone rule, Neolithic though it may be, is designed to accomplish.
As for those students who would rather be texting, they must be content to give their opposable thumbs a well earned rest.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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78 comments Add your comment
Old School Girl
August 10th, 2012
6:02 am
Hello Rick,
I too ban cell phones in class. The first offense, they are reminded, the second, they need to go speak with the dean…in each instance points are deducted…period. In order to foster a learning environment, students need to be engaged in the course and discussions. telephones, and other electronic devices are a distraction to the student and those around them. You don’t have to go to college, but if you sit in my class, understand the ground rules. Students do have rights…they can drop the class, if their rights are being violated.
Have a good day.
Cell Phone Clones
August 10th, 2012
6:15 am
The rule is reasonable, but the penalty seems
to be inappropriately administered. I think the professor
should explain what he expects regarding cell phone
etiquette and rely on the honor code of students complying
with his wishes.If the professor shows up late, or cancels
class for the day,do the students get points added on to
their grade for the inconvenience? I understand the professor’s
concern because it is a genuine problem,but I think there
are better ways to achieve the desired learning environment
such as randomly asking students violating the policy questions
as part of the instruction. I think the most amusing part of cell
phone usage is when two people are sitting next to each other
and are texting each other rather than conversating with each
other.
Pardon My Blog
August 10th, 2012
6:28 am
Well said Mr. Diguette! Cell phones are a nice convenience but have really brought out the rudeness and antisocial behavior in alot of people, not just students.
S.
August 10th, 2012
6:32 am
Bravo! I agree 100%.
bootney farnsworth
August 10th, 2012
6:49 am
I like the idea, but lets see it actually stick.
we -faculty/staff- are some of the worst offenders of this. at GPC I had to sit in countless, endless, soul sucking meetings. a quick look around the room would show at least half of the people in the room would be texting, typing, or flat out surfing the web. and when was the last time anyone had a committee or dept. meeting which didn’t have a chorus of ringing cell phones
now while much of that speaks to the crap and egos coming from the speaker, it says even more about basic civility and manners. how can we expect students to do what we don’t do ourselves?
Tea
August 10th, 2012
7:32 am
I just dropped in on your column (not a regular reader). I am a parent with a 31 year old daughter. I consider myself to be pretty open minded. I have worked in the corporate world (in IT) for 30 years. I am also a songwriter, I have long hair and I perform in a local rock band – not exactly the stereotype of a rigid parent. But I guess I must be from another planet because I am SHOCKED that any student would dream of having his/er phone on during class. This should not even be a point of discussion.
Student/employee
August 10th, 2012
7:33 am
Mr. Disguette, THANK YOU! As a student, I find it extremely distracting when another student in the classroom finds it necessary to sit and engage their cell phone. I do see the difference in classrooms that have standing rules about the use of electronics (not allowed at all) and those that don’t care what students do with the time during class. My evaluations have at the end of the semester reflected the lack of learning the professor allowed in his or her class because of their lacsidasical attitude in the classroom procedures.
@bootney…I was an employee and student at GPC, that institution has the worst offenders! I cannot count the number of times I have felt my education was cheated because a professor couldn’t or wouldn’t stand up to students. Set the rules and follow them! Yes, departmental meetings are tedious and boring at best, but does that excuse the cell phone behavior NO! Additionally, the respect shown during a meeting, I’m sure, is demonstrative of the type of environment they exude within their classrooms. So, bootney, YES, there are still professors at GPC that require the cell phone get turned off and stowed away for the duration of class. In my opinion, those classes were among the most favorable during my time at GPC. As I finish my degree at UGA, I have only encountered ONE class that did not have an “electronics” policy, but I guarantee that professor will in the future.
Just because we have embarked on the technological age does not mean as teachers or professors courtesy shouldn’t be demanded. While I agree the students paid for the class and it’s their time to “use or abuse;” there are other students in class that actually WANT to use their time efficiently! PROFESSORS TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CLASSROOMS…stop letting the “inmates run the asylum.”
Pride and Joy
August 10th, 2012
7:33 am
I have the very same rule in my business meetings. Cell phones are not allowed.
Another Prof
August 10th, 2012
7:47 am
Prof. Diguette is not the only college professor with this rule. In my classroom, however, this rule extends to laptops, ipads, etc. Fifteen years of experience has proven that, when such devices are allowed, 85% to 90% of the devices will be used improperly — to check email, to write on someone’s wall, to shop for shoes, etc.
My question for “Tea” is this: You are shocked that this issue even arises in a college classroom. What rules do you have for your daughter regarding her cellphone? Is it banned from the dinner table? Must it be turned off when you are having a conversation with her? Our students don’t develop their poor manners in a vacuum — they are raised this way.
Atlanta Mom
August 10th, 2012
7:52 am
Seems reasonable to me.
Jack
August 10th, 2012
7:53 am
Students with phones shouldn’t be allowed on the school grounds.
redweather
August 10th, 2012
8:08 am
@ bootney, You tend to make broad, overly inclusive assertions. I have never accessed or even monitored my cell phone in a meeting, soul sucking or otherwise, and I have attended plenty of them. I have also noticed that many of teaching colleagues observe the same etiquette. But you are right about one thing, we should model the bahavior we want our students to practice.
Beatings will continue until morale improves
August 10th, 2012
8:09 am
My college professor said, if you phone goes off in class, everyone takes a pop quiz.
I use the same rule in my HS classroom. Even if it vibrates and I hear it, its pop quiz time for everyone.
redweather
August 10th, 2012
8:10 am
behavior
mark
August 10th, 2012
8:10 am
It’s good to see someone enforcing a no-nonsense policy. Students may think texting during class is a good use of their time, but my guess is their parents — who are footing the bill — would prefer that their kids pay attention in class.
Kids need to understand that what’s taking place in front of them is most often more important than what’s being texted, tweeted or e-mailed from other people who can’t stand the idea of not being connected for even a few minutes.
And it’s just plain rude.
Another view
August 10th, 2012
8:14 am
I simply ask my students to leave and count it as an absence. I allow four absences, and then they get a withdrawal fail, which usually includes losing HOPE and PELL. I never have problems with phones, as money talks more than grades.
HS Public Teacher
August 10th, 2012
8:42 am
In my opinion, the US should allow the same thing that England and most of the EU does…. allow cell phone blockers. These are devices set up to block cell phone signals within a specific range.
The US laws favor outlawing this based on “freedom” however I believe it is mostly the cell phone companys pushing for this “freedom.”
In the EU, cell phone blockers are used extensively in Churches, in movie theaters, in schools, etc. They are well accepted by the public and are much appreciated by the public as well. Have you ever been annoyed by someone’s cell phone while watching a movie?????
Working Mom
August 10th, 2012
8:50 am
While I completely agree that texting or phone monitoring students are very likely non-learning students, I am also aware that I have college students in my classroom who have other responsibilities in their lives. Some have small children like I do and must be available to be contacted in case of illnesses or emergencies. For that reason, I myself leave my phone on (on vibrate) during my college courses and allow my students to do the same. This does not mean that I or they get to fiddle around with said phone all lesson long. Additionally, our campus uses a phone notification system in case of emergencies–weather related or otherwise. It would be irresponsible of me to cut off that line of communication. Hard rules certainly have their place and value, but they must be administered with common sense and consideration for real-life situations.
catlady
August 10th, 2012
9:01 am
Too bad too many public K-12s are not allowed to enforce this policy. It just takes a backbone!
Unfortunately I have sat in far too many meetings where my peers, teachers all, are texting, etc. It is so rude! It just boggles my mind!
catlady
August 10th, 2012
9:03 am
Later in the day this thread will be rife with people saying, “By Gawd, I bought my child a cell phone! You will NOT stop him from using it! Free speech, etc, etc..” Saw this about a year ago on the Momania blog.
Progressive Humanist
August 10th, 2012
9:10 am
One of my graduate students got a “B” last semester instead of an “A” partially because she was texting in class. My courses usually consist of a heavy dose of class discussion, but this day was direct instruction- I was demonstrating different ways for the students to run statistics on their data and how to analyze the resulting findings for their research. While the other students were very focused, taking notes and asking questions, this student spent the entire hour and a half texting, which was distracting to me, particularly in a small classroom of fewer than 10 students. She texted in class a few other times, but this day she did it for the entire period.
It does state on my syllabus that texting and browsing unrelated internet content will negatively affect their grades, and I always point that out in our first meeting. The student received a “B” on her major research project for the course, but would have had high enough grades on her other work to get an “A”, except that she lost a couple points on her professionalism/participation grade for texting, and thus ended up with a “B”. You would think that master’s students would conduct themselves in a more fashion, and they usually do, but even at that level it’s a problem sometimes.
Progressive Humanist
August 10th, 2012
9:12 am
edit: more mature fashion
Pluto
August 10th, 2012
9:20 am
Students seem incapable of adopting any self-control measures when it comes to cell phones. They walk around with the things held out in front like a compass or GPS oblivious to the world around them. Last year I ignored cell phones in class because it was time consuming and counterproductive, this year I will have no part of them in class. I will take them up and call mama to come get it.
Old timer
August 10th, 2012
9:21 am
Cat lady…..too true….
Sit in any staff development in any county……everyone is on the phone…..I even had to stop talking during in service and wait for someone to finish a Bluetooth conversation……rude rude rude…..I just glared!
pioneer
August 10th, 2012
9:22 am
I know no teachers – any level – who permit cell phones. Maybe a last vestige of “common sense,” that old notion practiced when there was still such a thing as “society.” I do allow laptops for notetaking and responses and am sure some people in the room – I would prefer not using the word “student” – are wasting time on the screen. But as the poster says, it’s their grade. Just do not distract those who are paying tuition for a different reason.
Proud Teacher
August 10th, 2012
9:28 am
I agree with this policy. I also agree that teachers should refrain from the cell phone as well. I’ve had far too much cheating in class with cell phones. My administration thinks I am far too demanding.
Hey Teacher
August 10th, 2012
9:42 am
@Proud Teacher — I lock up my phone when I’m teaching and make a point to tell the students that I do so. It’s much easier to enforce policy when we set a good example for our students. We have a no-electronics policy at my school, and it makes a world of difference in class management.
redweather
August 10th, 2012
9:46 am
I have never brought my phone to class. Wouldn’t dream of it!
Bubba
August 10th, 2012
9:57 am
I used to conduct 20 minute training sessions for groups of teachers. They are as bad as, or worse than, students at paying attention, interrupting by making ‘clever’ comments, having side conversations etc.
living in an outdated ed system
August 10th, 2012
9:58 am
Another post from another digital immigrant. Blah blah……..
Road Scholar
August 10th, 2012
10:34 am
CPC:”.If the professor shows up late, or cancels class for the day,do the students get points added on to their grade for the inconvenience?”
Hell no. they get free time or the class time off! Do you think they use it for productive time?
For those students and teachers who use their cell phones during class or meetings…DO YOUR JOB! Listen! FOCUS! You better learn to focus because if not, you may find yourself on the street w/o a job!
I had a boss who was like Pavlov’s Dog…when his cell went off he answered and left the room. Sometimes for a half hour. What happens to the staff…sometimes as many as 30, when he is gone? We would sit there and talk while we waited for him to return. So much wasted time…and money (salaries), esp since he was leading the meeting! The attendees were upper management!
And for the one who said that they have a life and maybe children. Do your job! Turn the phone off for the duration of one class/meeting! If it is an emergency they will leave a message or call back immediately. Then leave the room to answer/return the call. I think the world will continue to exist for the short time I’m talking about!
Where are peoples’ manners today? Again, FOCUS!
TomK
August 10th, 2012
10:35 am
I need a cell phone in class to check messages, texts, emails, etc. The professor should provide the notes and powerpoints online so I don’t have to miss stuff while I’m using the phone.
Wondering Allowed
August 10th, 2012
10:41 am
@Progressive Humanist – Horrid, just horrid. You make up an arbitrary rule that has nothing to do with learning the topic, but has everything to do with your showing who is in charge and demanding respect that you obviously wouldn’t earn, but for the arbitrary rules. People who engage students have students who learn, whether the mobile phones are on or off. People who need to crutch of rules to force students to pay attention are in the wrong profession. If you want people to admire you, become Miss America or model underwear. If you want to teach and inspire, concentrate on teaching and inspiring and lose the control freak tendancies.
While I agree that the phones should not distract other students, the responses from the “educators” in this thread tell us more about the profs who need to impose these rules than the students who use the phones. It tells us these people are control freak narcissists who likely wouldn’t make it in a real world, non-tenured job. In short, the word “weenie” comes to mind.
Wondering Allowed
August 10th, 2012
10:45 am
@Progressive Humanist – BTW, if you think what you did was acceptable, please go to your school’s administration, student newspaper and the student involved and put in writing why the student got a B instead of an A. If you don’t think you did anything wrong, you won’t have any objection to doing this.
Of course you won’t, because you know what you did wasn’t only a career ender for you, it would likely put you on the losing end of an expensive law suit.
You should be dragged out of the classroom and put as far away from a job involving people as humanly possible. Perhaps shoveling snow in the Arctic would be appropriate.
ColonelJack
August 10th, 2012
10:47 am
@TomK … What in the world could be so important outside of your class that you MUST be available all the time? If you’re that busy … or that much “in demand” … perhaps your being in a college class is not the most productive use of your time.
Or were you being sarcastic and I just missed it?
redweather
August 10th, 2012
10:54 am
@ Wondering Aloud. You write: “It tells us these people are control freak narcissists who likely wouldn’t make it in a real world, non-tenured job. In short, the word “weenie” comes to mind.”
Thank you for providing us with a perfect example of an ad hominem fallacy.
Carlos
August 10th, 2012
11:20 am
I recently began teaching at a college level here in Atlanta. Far too many students treat their teachers like TV sets. They leave class for phone calls and the lavatory. They text.
The worst (and rudest) offenders are usually the ones who get the worst grades; and I point that out, periodically. Test results sort out themselves. As a teacher, I do my best to develop the students that I have and who want to learn, but I’m not going to spit into the wind, either.
My guess is that the habits of rudeness go back to an organizational culture in high schools that discourages teachers from making “noise” by enforcing much in the way of standards. Disciplining children to the point where there is order in the class can end a career. As can failing students who, academically, exhibit only a pulse.
The other enabler may well be the availability of too much scholarship money, which leave many students without significant “skin in the game.” The pervasive availability of financial aid has also become a “moral hazard” on college administrators, who benefit from a career standpoint by putting far more effort into running up class registration at their “units” than into insuring that uniform standards are upheld — including making rules against cell phone use in class. They have the graduation rates to prove it.
William Casey
August 10th, 2012
11:26 am
@WONDERINGALLOWED: I agree that the cell phone issue is about respect. Whether a “student” (I use the term loosely) respects the professor is his/her own business. However, I believe that a person joins a learning community when enrolling in a class and should respect that community rather than engaging in egotistical and self-indulgent cell phone play. Americans are becoming “cell phone zombies” and it’s not just students. Not a pretty sight.
Progressive Humanist
August 10th, 2012
11:30 am
Wondering-
My, you do have your panties in a wad, don’t you?
The main reason the student got a “B” was because she got a marginal grade on her major project for the semester (a low “B”), which comprised nearly 2/3 of her grade. And that was after getting extensive written feedback on every portion of it and being able to make multiple revisions. The entire course was centered on this project, and she didn’t learn enough of the material to produce a quality product, particularly a graduate level product. She simply didn’t have the knowledge she needed to about research, and her research made that apparent. And why didn’t she learn what she needed to? Likely because she was disengaged and texting.
If she came to my office to inquire, I’d tell her the same thing. I’d have no problem defending the grade. Many professors at my school have similar, if not identical policies, as do many across the state, as you can see by the responses here. The policy is stated directly in the syllabus and it is discussed with students when they enter the course. If a student came to class and read a comic book the whole time or played a video game, that would not really qualify as meeting attendance and participation requirements, and texting is the same. Just because you have your butt in a seat doesn’t mean you’re “there”. In that case I’d rather have the seat be empty. Some students do use their phones for legitimate academic purposes like quickly looking up a term or taking a picture of information on the board and when they ask if that’s alright my answer is always “absolutely”.
Whether a student is engaged or not has a direct bearing on what they learn. By texting in class it’s no different than if she was having an hour and a half side conversation the entire time, except other students didn’t hear it. But she certainly didn’t learn anything about what was being covered. If you think that a student can carry on a texting conversation nonstop and also learn complex material simultaneously, then you don’t understand enough about human learning. But then I’m sure you have extremely impressive academic credentials since you have made yourself arbiter of all that is acceptable in a college classroom.
Soccermom
August 10th, 2012
11:40 am
@Working Mom – I thoroughly agree with your post at 8:50!
As someone who has been both a traditional and non-traditional student in the USGA (two different degrees), I have experienced college life from two quite different perspectives. I had to have a couple of very blunt discussions with professors about the fact that my young children were my top priority.
Those of you who are being hard-nosed about this issue do need to realize that you may have college students who have other responsibilities in their lives. Make your students put their phone on vibrate or silent (they can still look at the display if the phone is sitting on the desk) and enforce the expectations of class participation and LIMITING texting and other phone operations. But, as Working Mom stated, “Hard rules certainly have their place and value, but they must be administered with common sense and consideration for real-life situations.”
bootney farnsworth
August 10th, 2012
11:58 am
@ red
my statements are if anything, toned down for the sake of my identity. I have a habit of telling the truth of a situation regardless of politics or sacred cows. which goes a long way towards why I became expendable, I’m sure.
your experiences may be different, and you are most certainly welcome to your opinion.
try looking around the room during convocation. or during division retreats. or discipline meetings.
bootney farnsworth
August 10th, 2012
12:01 pm
@ wondering
I’m curious – when is the last time you were in a college classroom.
especially in the front of it trying to retain some level of control
Hillbilly D
August 10th, 2012
12:03 pm
This seems like a no-brainer to me.
bootney farnsworth
August 10th, 2012
12:09 pm
@ Progressive
don’t see a thing wrong with your policy. assuming you made your rules clearly known, and with an issue this annoying I can’t imagine you didn’t, the onus shifts to the students to follow them.
if something is oppressive, unreasonable, or for whatever reason doesn’t work for them, its their responsibility to meet with you outside class and discuss it. at GPC I knew few instructors who wouldn’t make accommodations if there was a LEGITIMATE reason.
bored ain’t one.
I’m all for pushing boundaries if you disagree/don’t see other recourse. but it often comes with consequences. the adult world – which is gonna be a shock to her- puts an emphasis on following directions.
Ashley
August 10th, 2012
12:12 pm
These students who are using their cell in class are probably the same ones who walk into closed doors , step into on-coming traffic or simply just ignore their surrounding. I dare say the lack of self-control and addiction excuses rule the day. Manners and etiquette aren’t practiced in the classroom because they are not instill in them at home, of course there are adults who are just as bad, so this behavior doesn’t surprise me……pity.
bootney farnsworth
August 10th, 2012
12:12 pm
its really very simple
1- model the behavior you expect from others.
2-enforce your rules if you make them.
Road Scholar
August 10th, 2012
12:22 pm
Tom K: My wife who is a professor does that for every class, and the idiots still cannot find their assignments, complain about the rules, or even take an online test during the allotted time! Heck, they can’t even average their scores to get their numerical grade ! And she as well as other professors have been threatened with lawsuits because little Bobby and Sally doesn’t like their grade or won’t retain their Hope scholarship. Her fellow teacher has been threatened by the parent of one of her students! They were given the rules! Now do they pay attention? Do they perform as well or better than other students who have the same info? Guess!
HS Public Teacher
August 10th, 2012
12:34 pm
@Working Mom and SoccerMom,
I cry “bunk” to your reasoning. You claim that you MUST have your cell for on for family emergencies. Sorry – but that doesn’t hold water at all.
What do you think they did before cell phones? Remember that this technology has not been around for long at all. The human race and yes – even classrooms – got along and survived very well without cell phones. Emergencies where handled with speed and ease with none of that technology.
You sound like my high school students when they are caught using their cell phones. One said, “But my Mom was texting me with an emergency!” When I asked what was the emergency, one student replied, “She will be 10 minutes late picking me up after school.”
Sorry, but that type of thing does not constitute an emergency and certainly does not warrent interrupting the learning process.
Progressive Humanist
August 10th, 2012
12:34 pm
bootney,
Thanks. And my policies are not as strict as many others’. If a student has their phone on vibrate, it goes off in class, and they see it’s something they must immediately attend to, then I have no problem if they step outside the room for a few minutes to take care of it. If it’s not on vibrate and it goes off in class, I wait for them to turn it off, which makes them a bit uncomfortable, but they don’t lose points for that. The problem is when they are in class but oblivious to what’s going on because they are wrapped up in everything else besides the coursework. This is obviously a shortcoming in participation and engagement, and it compromises the learning environment when students who are involved look over and see another student texting away, or sleeping, or …
There’s a long history of teachers and professors requiring a certain amount of participation, and some participation can’t be measured. For instance, if a student is sitting quietly and staring off into the distance, you can’t telling whether they’re listening and processing the information or thinking about what they’re going to have for dinner. In that case the instructor doesn’t have grounds to make a judgment. But observable behaviors, such as walking in 10 minutes late every day, playing video games, reading comic books, or texting a friend, are measurable, and it usually becomes clear on assessments that the student was not fulfilling class requirements during that time.
If the guidelines are explained in the syllabus, then professionalism/participation components are perfectly justifiable, especially since we often have other minor components that we tend to give them full credit simply for completing, but that function mainly to monitor their work. Professionalism/participation is another minor component that serves, likewise, to monitor their work. It’s nothing new and it’s not really controversial. But some people don’t have a great deal of knowledge about education, and want to throw a hissy fit if the structure doesn’t conform to their 12th grade experience.
Pardon My Blog
August 10th, 2012
12:49 pm
I am certainly not anti-cell phone and really appreciated being able to get in touch with my child at VA Tech on that awful April day. That said, there are many that abuse the phones, androids, etc. and are really rude and inconsiderate and because of that many professors have had to institute these rules. I mean, really, we survived prior to cell phones!