Observations, thoughts, reminiscences, and occasional rants on
anthropology, linguistics, old-time banjo, and anything else that crosses my path...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
To laugh or to cry?
I had a student this morning who came to class with no paper or writing implement. He wrote his answer to our in-class activity on his cell phone, then sent it to me as an email.
It makes me want to cry a little only because I think there's something special about writing with our hands that just can't be duplicated in typing. Then again, it saves paper to email, and I'd love to be able to look over my class and see little iPads (or some such thing) on everyone's desks--very Star Trek.
Comments and feedback are welcome, as long as they conform to normal standards of civility and decency. I will delete comments that do not meet these standards.
The question is...how was the student's answer?
ReplyDeleteIt was so-so, but all he needed was to have been present and not dead. It was a "participation" grade.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me want to cry a little only because I think there's something special about writing with our hands that just can't be duplicated in typing. Then again, it saves paper to email, and I'd love to be able to look over my class and see little iPads (or some such thing) on everyone's desks--very Star Trek.
ReplyDeleteMaybe some day, the desks will actually be iPads. I've actually always preferred typing to hand-writing, even in high school way back in the 60s.
ReplyDeleteEmbace the future. In 5 years a pen and paper will be like an 8 track tape.
ReplyDelete