A professor talks faster than students think is humanly possible.
Jenna Erlebach, a 20-year-old junior majoring in construction management, concentrates. She works to catch each phrase and word that the professor speaks in his presentation.
A cell phone rings a pop song tone; her mind, as does others she's sure, begins to wander with the song's melody.
This is reality.
Erlebach said although she understands how people forget to turn their phones to silent tone, it seems as though cell phones are constantly going off and disturbing the learning atmosphere.
"When a phone rings in class, it doesn't simply divert my attention for a few seconds," Erlebach said. "Instead I spend the next 10 minutes thinking about whether or not I like the ring tone followed by thoughts of frustration because I have missed whatever the professor was teaching about."
She thinks the distraction isn't necessarily the ringing alone, but often the thoughts that undeniably are connected to the song that enter her mind, Erlebach said.
"My frame of mind completely changes after I realize I've somehow lost my concentration and have no idea what the professor is talking about," she said. "It is so difficult to get over the irritation of the avoidable distraction, get back on track and re-concentrate on learning."
Although a majority of BYU students have discovered vibrate mode, cell phones going off in class disturbs the learning process, BYU political science professor Richard Davis said.
"Phones ringing turns the attention to the phone and away from the lecture or the discussion," Davis said.
Technology can be helpful in the classroom, he said, but it depends on its use.
A Utah County school district is attempting to be ahead of the technology epidemic that distracts from the learning process.
The Nebo School District proposed a new policy stating that electric devices, such as iPods, are not to be used or brought into classrooms, unless they are needed in the class or special permission has been given, said district attorney Reed Park.
"The use of electronic devices is disruptive to the educational process," Park said.
A revised policy will be presented again at the October school board meeting and could be put into effect immediately after that meeting, Park said.
"There hasn't been any major issue to bring up this policy," he said. "We are trying to be proactive toward the disruption to education the devices can cause."
Park said the school is in no way trying to ban electric devices. Rather, district officials are setting a policy to keep them out of the classroom.
The proposed policy also alleviates the district of responsibility for lost or stolen items.
Electric Devices that the may become strongly discouraged unless specific approval is given:
* Cell Phones
* Mp3 players
* IPods
* Personal Digital Assistants
* Compact Disc Players
* Portable Game Consoles
* Cameras
* Digital Scanners
* Lap Top Computers
* Any other electronic or battery powered instruments which transmit voice, text, or data from one person to another
Copyright Brigham Young University 19 Sep 2006
