Should Law Schools ban Computers in the Classroom?

[Should Law Schools ban Computers in the Classroom?]

Should Law Schools ban Computers in the Classroom?

Yes, Completely

 1 (9.1%)

Just Ban Internet Access

 1 (9.1%)

No ban, but teachers should implement a no-internet policy (Honor System)

 1 (9.1%)

No, Let students do what they want.  It's their funeral.

 8 (72.7%)

Total Members Voted: 11

[TheCause]

This law student and former marketing professor seems to think computers are a bad idea in law schools. 
Is it the students responsibility to pay attention, or does the teacher have a duty to command student's attention?


http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/a_marketing_prof_tries_law_school_encounters_stress_level_that_is_scarily_h/

[cooleylawstudent]

I know tons of students who play video games and facebook during class. If we were standard grades I'd say ban it, but since it's a curve......damn I guess I'm turning into a male private part here, but let natural selection take its place, they'll find work as computer repair guys if they fail out(and probally make more the first year doing it too )

[nealric]

I say it's really no different from doodling in class. I find I pay the same level of attention in class regardless of whether I have my computer in front of me. I'm not really an auditory learner anyways, so I usually don't get that much out of going to class.

I know tons of students who play video games and facebook during class. If we were standard grades I'd say ban it, but since it's a curve......damn I guess I'm turning into a male private part here, but let natural selection take its place, they'll find work as computer repair guys if they fail out(and probally make more the first year doing it too  )
 

You would be surprised. There are people who do nothing but surf the web in class and are in the top 10%. There are gunners who hang on the prof's every word and don't do all that well.

[cooleylawstudent]

Damn mutants and their super-powered minds, send them to Genosha damnit! Release the sentinels! 

quote author=nealric link=topic=4023234.msg5376702#msg5376702 date=1271276434]
I say it's really no different from doodling in class. I find I pay the same level of attention in class regardless of whether I have my computer in front of me. I'm not really an auditory learner anyways, so I usually don't get that much out of going to class.

I know tons of students who play video games and facebook during class. If we were standard grades I'd say ban it, but since it's a curve......damn I guess I'm turning into a male private part here, but let natural selection take its place, they'll find work as computer repair guys if they fail out(and probally make more the first year doing it too  )
 

You would be surprised. There are people who do nothing but surf the web in class and are in the top 10%. There are gunners who hang on the prof's every word and don't do all that well.
[/quote]

[bigs5068]

It always shocks me that people surf the web during class, I mean I won't stop them, because as smiley face dude said it is a curve. I just don't understand how if you are paying 100's of dollars for each class you can't stay off facebook, AIM, or not check your e-mail for one hour.  It is really crazy to me, but I imagine most of the people doing that will be the future grads whining on this website when they can't find a job, if they graduate.

[Thane Messinger]

This law student and former marketing professor seems to think computers are a bad idea in law schools.  
Is it the students responsibility to pay attention, or does the teacher have a duty to command student's attention?

A fair question, with perhaps the best answer being "both."

Sure, there are profs who are more boring than dirt . . . but, on the other hand, dealing with a series of "pass" responses, or with students who obviously don't understand the case or point of law under discussion, or who simply don't care and don't want to be there, sure takes some wind out of the classroom sails too.  Sometimes a point of law is rather narrow; sometimes the case is rather tedious and difficult to follow; sometimes it is important to backtrack for those who aren't following; and sometimes we just need to buck up and pay attention.  

As to computers in the classroom, and their frequent misuse, this reminds me of something my sister (a grade-school counselor) once remarked on, when dealing with a pair of young students who were playing doctor (in the classroom!), oblivious to the fact that their teacher could in fact see what they were doing.

Don't ever think that your professors don't know that you're not paying attention.  It's so obvious, it's laughable.  As has been said many times, participation doesn't count.  Mostly.  But there are reasons other than participation not to burn a professorial bridge.  And, honestly, with all that's written and complained about how intense and draining law school is, who has time for Facebook? ( . . .or discussion groups, for that matter.  = :  )

[lovelyjj]

Hi Thane, just a quick question...

What are your thoughts on missing classes? During my 1st semester, one of my friend had to attend her grandmother's funeral and had to miss a good 2 weeks of classes. I was surprised by how everyone started talking like 'there is this girl who never comes to classes' When she came back and asked me if she missed a lot of things/ how much trouble she was in. I told her she didn't miss all that much (I was probably wrong on giving such careless answer, as I was confused about the whole law school thing myself) So my question is, how much trouble was she really in? assuming she continued to make her own outline according to the contents of syllabus? Just curious... Thanks for answering in advance!  

[TheCause]

Interesting points.

I do have to note that there was absolutely no correlation between my grades and how much I paid attention in class.

Sometimes that has to do with class difficulty.  I paid attention almost every minute of fed tax, but that class was really difficult and everyone paid full attention.  I didn't get a horrible grade, but it wasn't great.

I never paid any attention at all in corporations or secured transactions or criminal law and I did well in those classes.   I never listened, and never took a single note.  I didn't buy the book for one of those classes. I killed myself and paid attention every day in criminal procedure and got an average grade.  
I'm not saying this to brag--I actually think it makes me a poor student--but sometimes I just don't need to listen to my teacher ramble on about stuff that isn't on the final.
(Oh, and Joseph Glannon's Civil Procedure E&E was much more effective than my teacher)
Also, I've learned through my two internships and my job that the information you learn in law school doesn't really help you very much in the real world.  However, the ability to research and analyze that you learn in law school helps a lot.  

My suggestion would be to ban computers for the first semester or year of classes.

[byebyeny]

If you did what truly matters in helping you understand the material better and disregard nonsense that only confuses you, I don't think that makes you a poor student(maybe an efficient one?  . If you have done well in those classes in which you didn't pay attention, that probably means you realized early that doing well on final exams requires you to do something that could be done outside of class. I don't think any of these things has to do with being naturally gifted. It just means that person figured out law school faster than those who didn't. Also, I should point out that law students rarely tell the truth, at least not the entire truth, and they also do like to brag (even though they would never admit it). A big part of law school is playing mind games. Sometimes with your professors, mostly with your classmates(and sometimes, on internet websites like this one.)

[byebyeny]

I don't think people search websites or do facebook stuff because they are stupid enough to not realized how much they just paid for their classes. I believe this happens because they find the material very boring or totally irrelevant to what they think they should know to do well on exams. It could be argued that this is law school's fault for not giving sufficient explanations as to why the professor do things the way they do and what is truly expected of students to do well on the final exam, which determines your grade for the entire semester. This is the hardest part about law school. Not hard because students are stupid/or figuring that fact is some kind of mysterious process, but simply because students were never expected to figure out those things on their own(high school/college/employers always told them their responsibilites) before they came to law school.