Law student Brian Gabriel was sitting in class - using his laptop computer to buy home brewery supplies. His professor called on him to explain the international jurisdiction of war criminals.
"I actually think I had the (beer Web site) minimized when he actually called on me," said Gabriel, who insists he knew what was going on well enough to answer the question aptly.
Modern college campuses permit - some say invite - a style of multitasking unavailable just a few years ago. To most students and faculty, new technology has been an academic boon. But there are unintended consequences.
Wireless technology has led to increasing numbers of students bringing their computers to class; some play video games, look for jobs, instant-message their friends and even watch movies while faculty are lecturing.
Opinions differ on how extensive such modern-day doodling has become. But the trend has sparked enough concern to compel technology gurus to prepare a sort of nuclear option: a switch that shuts off wireless Internet in class.
The University of Miami started building wireless capability in 2000, roughly the same time other major universities began installing palm-sized antennas around their campuses. Now, students in 85 percent of the school's 240 acres can access the Internet without wires.
Nova Southeastern University has been a pioneer, outfitting wireless areas in 41 buildings around the state. Its law school was the first in the nation to go wireless in 1997.
Florida International University has wireless capability available in a dozen buildings between its two major campuses. And Florida Atlantic University - which started building a network four years ago on its seven campuses - plans to be completely covered within five years.
Walk into UM's library or the Starbucks across the pathway and students click and drag on open laptops. Wander through the quads and students sit in green plastic chairs or on concrete benches, next to palm trees, with laptops.
A few lie about on the otherwise empty athletic fields in bikinis, their minds still connectable to the World Wide Web by slender black notebook computers while their bodies tan.
Timothy Ramsey, associate vice president for telecommunications and computer operations is responsible for upgrading the system, making sure connections are fast and easy. That means building more capacity in heavily traveled areas like the coffee shop and a bit less at the baseball stadium.
Wireless offers advantages in and out of the classroom. Students can access their course materials or research a classroom discussion topic.
Law school has become the hub of instant messaging and other nonacademic uses of the wireless connection, according to students.
Ramsay said e-mailing and instant messaging in class is minimal, but he nonetheless created a computer program that allows professors to turn off or limit access.
When professors point and click, the computer tells data switches to stop Web traffic. The switches automatically turn back on at the end of the day. Ramsay knows they've been used, but not how often.
Two classes at NSU's law school are now testing a computer program that lets professors monitor their students' Internet use more closely.
It also lets teachers beam quizzes and poll questions to students and take automatic attendance. Law library director Lisa Smith-Butler, who is directing the project, said she gives her students specific warnings about Web surfing and she wanders the class to make sure they are listening.
"In the last couple of years, it's become an issue that none of us were expecting," said Smith-Butler.
Law students - who pay $14,508 per semester in tuition at UM - say they lose track of lectures at their own peril.
Gabriel, the one who bought the beer equipment during class, said he knows the difference between getting completely lost in the Internet and keeping a low background hum.
"That stuff is really self-correcting. If they want to dig themselves a hole and jump into it ... our students are adults," said Michael Froomkin, who teaches an Internet Law class at UM. "They can make their choices and live with the consequences."
Froomkin said he has heard a lot of talk about Web surfing in class, but believes the problem is exaggerated. He is far more annoyed when cell phones ring and disturb the entire class.
"Daydreaming in class is as old as classes. People, when they're writing, you don't know if they're writing notes or writing the great American novel or writing a letter home. And it's the same thing with the laptop," he said. "You don't know if they're taking notes or sending instant messages about your bow tie across the room."
(c) 2005, Miami Herald. Distributed by KRT.
Be the first to comment on this article!