Debate: Should laptops and personal digital devices be banned from the classroom?

Event Date & Time

  • May 3, 2018
    1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Event Description

The debate over laptop use in the classroom resurfaced last year following the publication of a New York Times op-ed by University of Michigan Professor Susan Dynarski. Dynarski decided to “generally ban electronics, including laptops, in [her] classes and research seminars” (with a few exceptions), citing research into the knock-on effects of visual distraction for people in the near vicinity of laptop users. Yet others may consider this question from the perspective of the assumptions that underlie this debate. What about student agency and responsibility to the community of the classroom? How do we engage students in thinking about the classroom climate and their contributions to it? What about students with accessibility requirements?

Join us for a lively debate among students and faculty members representing both (or many) sides of this timely issue.

Debaters:

  • Neil Armitage, Faculty, Department of Sociology & Prof-in-Commons, UBC Learning Commons
  • Ann Stone, Lecturer, Marketing and Behavioural Science, Sauder School of Business
  • Dena Tabyanian, Student, UBC Debate Society
  • Anna Saint, Student, UBC Debate Society

Moderator:

Arsalan Ghaemi, Alumni, UBC Debate Society