Computer Classes Spur Student Absenteeism...duh.

In an article that was in the Caton Rep, originally from the LA Times, by Stuart Silverstein...

See it here!


...a "spurt" of absenteeism is being blamed on the fact that some classes are now publishing audio and video content from the lecture. This is an "unintended negative circumstance" of the deployment of this new educational technology.

The funny part is that they are actually surprised by this! If a professor can be easily replaced by an iPod, they probably should be. I don't see a cry for any pedagogical changes in the college classroom that would encourage a student to be present anywhere in the article. All I see is "sour grapes". For example, one lecturer suggests that the best grades are going to the students that attend and sit up front. I'd like to see the data on that. I also don't approve of the insinuation that the kids that are not attending class are hung-over or slackers. I think that they would attend if there was a compelling reason to. They might be doing the right thing by managing their time appropriately for courses that demand it.

Stop blaming the students for not attending class because they are using a system that you are spending oodles of money to deploy.

Ugh.

Jim :-)

PS- Notice that this post is not a debate as to which format is better, it is simply a reaction to their disbelief that the students are not attending classes. That's fodder for a whole other post.