Cedars, April 2019

electronics in class depends largely on the nature of the class and the size of the class- room. Kira allows computers during lectures in small classes because he said students are going to be involved and undistract- ed no matter what. But in the past year, he has not allowed students to have their laptops out in his larger classes. Howev- er, he hasn’t noticed improvement in their grades since the change. Kira said he has seen data that indi- cates laptops do not help students learn better. He noted many studies cite students aren’t getting the right mode of learning to effectively comprehend information. Kira said many professors think they should use social media and allow stu- dents to use whatever kind of electronics they want in class. Kira believes, however, that those things might actually inhibit the learning process. “It seems like I get more questions. Maybe some of [the students] would have asked those questions if they had been paying attention but wouldn’t because of distractions,” Kira said. “I do think that it seems like the students are interacting more based on that.” Kira said he realizes technology is obviously necessary in many classrooms. Computers are central for learning and working in fields like IT, graphic design or computer science, so they are a necessity in the classroom. He said certain areas of the humanities and even some other science fields don’t have the same requirements, and laptops would not be as profitable for learning. “Especially something that I do which is often literary in nature, I think it can be less helpful,” Kira said. “However, I think electronics and technology can be helpful in the presentation of things because it allows me to do things I wouldn’t be able to do oth- erwise.” Dr. Aleda Chen, assistant dean for the school of pharmacy and associate profes- sor of pharmacy, has the same sentiment. She said that, though there are disadvan- tages, technology in the classroom has many advantages. Chen uses audience responses through an interactive presentation for students in her lectures in order to eval- uate how her students are doing in class without needing to administer a quiz or exam. She also incorporates live polling into her classes in order to know instantly if students understand a certain concept or idea. “As an educator, that kind of feedback is really valuable to me,” Chen said. “I also love having their laptops there with Google Drive so they can work on an activity all at the same time.” Chen said that though electronics are distracting, students will often get distract- ed either way. “For me technology expands outside of the classroom and I use a lot of technol- ogy to help prepare students for classes,” Chen said. “So that they can dig into ma- terial to help our class time become very active.” Zach Krauss is a senior pharmacy/music double major from central Texas and cam- pus reporter for Cedars. He loves music, theatre, biology, community and meeting new people. April 2019 5 CAMPUS Photo by Carrie Bergan Shawn Ross, Hannah Dobmeier, Mya Taylor, Anna Webner and Daniel Jagod all work on their homework while hanging out together as friends. Photo by Carrie Bergan Shawn Ross multitasks on his laptop while reading from his textbook.