Given the huge investment students make in university education, one might imagine their motivation to make the most of this investment would be considerable.  Alas, a recent study from the University of Waterloo suggests that might not entirely be the case.

The research went inside the lecture hall to explore whose responsibility students believe it is that they are engaged in class, and found that many students very much believe the buck rests with their instructors rather than themselves.

The analysis revealed that the majority of students were using technology during class, not all were using it for their immediate studies.  For instance, some revealed they used it to catch up on other classes, with others using it to simply browse the internet.  There was a strong sense that their use of technology was their right however, as they had paid for the course and could therefore act as they wished.

“While students felt that it was their choice to use the technology, they saw it as the instructors’ responsibility to motivate them not to use it,” the researchers say.

Keeping engaged

From the instructors perspective, they felt that technology was valuable in making learning accessible, but they remained concerned about the use of phones in the classroom.  They have a slightly more sympathetic view towards laptops, due in part to the belief that laptops are primarily used for work in a way that smartphones largely are not.  They took umbrage at the demands of students to keep them engaged however.

“Some students said that instructors need to be more entertaining to keep students engaged in the classroom, but this a big ask, given that we are not employed in the entertainment industry,” the researchers explain. “There is also a question of what we are preparing our students for: If we are training them for future employment, we might need to teach them to focus even if the class is ‘boring.'”

Despite the contention, the academics were generally not of the opinion that technology should be banned from the classroom, as there are very clear benefits, both to teacher and student alike.  Indeed, banning technology is not even lawful in many instances, as disabled students often use the technology to fully engage in the class.

With policing such a ban largely impossible, it seems the only solution is for academia to get a better handle on the best use of technology in class, from both the students and teachers perspectives.