Silent conversations are going
on in classrooms all over campus.
How often do students text in
class? What are their reasons for
texting? How have professors responded?
Is texting affecting
class? The campus responds.
“I see texting in the classroom.
Several students during any given
class will be on electronic devices.
I assume that they’re texting, but
I’m not sure,” said Alan Rubin, a
composition professor at Bucks.
Some students almost feel their
devices pulling at them to answer.
“I do actually (feel obligated to
respond) sometimes in class. It
will be a quick little answer. I’ll
just want to write ‘yes’ or something
short,” said Josh Griffin, 20,
a nursing major fromWarminster.
Griffin is not alone in his desire
to text. Nationally over 75 billion
text messages are sent each
month, according to an article in
theWashington Post.
So what effect do the texts have
on learning?
“You’re not truly time-sharing.
You’re flitting back and forth, and
the flitting itself is taking processing
capacity,” professorMeyers of
the University of Michigan told
theWashington Post.
“There is a cost when people
multitask-a kind of mental
brownout. If a teenager is reading
Shakespeare when a text message
interrupts, Hamlet’s ghost is going
to fade in and out in a ghostly
fog,” Meyers told the Washington Post.
Other professors like Al Filreis
of the University of Pennsylvania
have seen writing improve.
“In writing, quantity leads to
quality,” Flireis told theWashington
Post.
Filreis claims that students are
learning to think about audience,
and keep their writing more concise.
One of the top reasons students
here at Bucks say they text is
boredom.
“If I get bored in class I’ll just
start texting. I’ll say ‘I’m in class
text me,” said Rey Sias, 20, an education
major, fromWarminster.
The more interactive the classroom,
the harder it seems to be to
text.
“I’ve never seen anybody texting
in here (Italian class). He just
assumes that we won’t. He’s constantly
asking us questions,” said
Allina Ramirez, 20, of Warminster.
Professors have taken different
approaches to deal with texting. In
certain classrooms students know
to type “t.t.y.l.”( talk to you later)
or turn their phones off before
they even enter.
“Some professors don’t care,
this professor yesterday was really
screaming at me because I was
texting her (gesturing to the
woman next to him),” said an accounting
major from Yardley.
“I have the uncanny ability to
tell so I’ll say put it away. I’ll
never ignore it,” said Professor
Alex Fleck, who teaches women’s
studies and communication
classes at Bucks.
“We’re all responsible for the
community of the class when
you’re checked out of that community
it can’t work. It’s ultimately
about citizenship,” said
Fleck.
“If I was having a conference
with a student I wouldn’t be texting.
It is your job to be present.”
While talking in class is obviously
rude, the campus seems to
be split on the topic of texting.
Some students see text messages
as the individual’s problem.
“It doesn’t bother me. I just
think why do they even bother
going to school? It is not myRamirez.
Other students felt that texting
was like saying “I don’t want to be
here.”
“It’s kind of rude. If I’m around
someone I don’t want them texting
24/7. You should pay attention
to someone who is in your presence, act
like you want to be there. It
seems like you don’t if you are texting,”
said Dan Lacey, 20, a finance
major from Wrightstown.
Nont r aditional aged s t u d e n t s
seemed to be b o t h e r e d
more than younger students. Gail Achuff, a nontraditional student from Bensalem, was surprised by how distracted students
can be. ForAchuff, texting wasn’t
the worst of the problems.
“The classes with the computer
labs, that’s the worst. People are
checking their email, on Facebook.”
said Achuff.
“A classroom may appear to be
quiet and orderly, but it may be
abuzz with chatter,” Juan Hendrix an earth science teacher, told the
Washington Post. A lot of people felt that for better or worse, texting in the classroom
is not something that is going to stop any time soon.
“It probably bothers me more than other students because they’re used to it. I don’t know, does it bother you?” asks professor Rubin.