Quote :

"Hey, students -- pay attention. Not to us, mind you, but to the syllabus provided by your professor. Kieran Mullen, a physics professor at the University of Oklahoma, has a fairly strict rule about gadgets in class: there won't be any, ever, under any circumstances. Balk all you want (understandable given his own clipped-on cellie), but if you sign up for this guy's class, you'll be flipping your phone to "off" and leaving your laptop in the dormitory. And if you try to blaze your own path and slip that netbook into the back row, you might leave bitterly disappointed. As you'll see clearly in the video past the break, Mr. Mullen sought to make a visual point that laptops weren't allowed in class (he calls them "a distraction"), and while it seems that the whole stunt was premeditated, most students acknowledged that his point was driven home. In short, he took a defunct machine, submerged in liquid nitrogen, and proceeded to make the following statement: "This is just liquid nitrogen, so it alone won't hurt the computer. But this will.""

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/21/ou-professor-submerses-laptop-in-liquid-nitrogen-smashes-it-to/

Maybe for physics I would make an exception since it's math based but I don't see why any professor wouldnt allow laptops AT ALL. my handwriting is atrocious and childish and when i finally got my first laptop senior year of college my grades shot up because i could actually study from my own notes, lol

2/21/2010 3:14:18 PM

dr. boles here at ncsu is the same way

2/21/2010 3:27:30 PM

Dr. Beckmann

2/21/2010 3:30:10 PM

That video misses the best part.

2/21/2010 3:36:24 PM

Margaret Heil, too.

Some professors demand that you sit and pay attention to them while you are in class. I know several of you will try to say that you are a member of the minority in response to this statement but:

A large majority of people with their laptops/gadgets in class are checking out facebook and playing flash games (If not WoW, or something even more nerdy).

2/21/2010 3:57:13 PM

i understand that in college, people pay for their classes and if they want to waste that time surfing the internet and not paying attention, that's their problem. but at the same time, if they don't like a professor's rules (especially for a class as readily offered as physics) they can just switch to a different section. and your point about handwriting and whatnot makes sense, but I'm sure you could get an exception if you really wanted. i can definitely sympathize with a professor not wanting half his class to not be paying attention to a word he is saying. it can really bring down a class. and with professors partially being judged on the grades and reviews of his students, wanting them to succeed is a job requirement.

2/21/2010 3:59:05 PM

Laptop users sitting in front of me are a pretty big distraction IMO. Especially if they're playing wow.

2/21/2010 4:09:12 PM

I don't get why people bother coming to class if they're not going to pay attention. After freshman year, virtually no classes have an attendance requirement. Come in, drop off your homework and GTFO. I did that all the time in Modern Physics because it was my only Friday class.

2/21/2010 4:46:30 PM

GG professor!

2/21/2010 4:50:03 PM

Guy is gonna get a lawsuit. And its gonna be from a disabled person. Laptop is a necessary aid for a lot of handicapped people.

I understand where this guy is coming from, but like its been said, a lot of people use laptops to take notes.

And yes while I do carry mine, and do screw up with it, if Im in my major classes or other highly technical class, im following the notes and often enough referenceing stuff we are discussing in class.

[Edited on February 21, 2010 at 5:55 PM. Reason : d]

2/21/2010 5:54:28 PM

people get exemptions for disabilities all the time. i'm sure this would be no different. and i'm sure the prof would have no problem accommodating people with legitimate need for a laptop.

2/21/2010 6:08:20 PM

one time my theatre professor was showing us how to use the hybrid section and login, but i was the only one with a laptop in the class and so im clicking away while he's talking and he stops, comes down from the podium directly to me, turns my laptop around, and when he realized i was only doing exactly what he said we should he just said "i did not actually expect you to be paying attention, well done"

2/21/2010 7:14:45 PM

i use a tablet and OneNote, its an amazing productivity and organizational tool. i would definitely be in the group that would be transferring sections if i wasn't able to use it.

2/21/2010 10:36:14 PM