Hand-Held Devices See Increasing Use In Classroom Instruction

The New York Times (11/16, A14, Steinberg) reports that "the greatest impact" of hand-held technology devices in the classroom, which can be used to take attendance, answer quizzes or signal confusion, "may be cultural: they have altered, perhaps irrevocably, the nap schedules of anyone who might have hoped to catch a few winks in the back row, and made it harder for them to respond to text messages, e-mail and other distractions." While some "students say they resent the potential Big Brother aspect of all this," others say they appreciate the heightened level of attention it requires of them. "Though the technology is relatively new, preliminary studies at Harvard and Ohio State, among other institutions, suggest that engaging students in class through a device as familiar to them as a cellphone...increases their understanding of material that may otherwise be conveyed in traditional lectures."