Some professors add texting rules to syllabi

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa -- With the new age of technology comes an age old obstacle which faculty at every academic level deals with from students:  getting their students to pay attention while they are teaching.  At Westminster College, the challenge is always present.  It forces professors to either stick to the rules against texting that they stated in the syllabus which they passed out at the beginning of the semester or allow for a little leniency.  Public Relations Professor Delores Natale says that her policy is that students may have their cell phones with them in class but they must have them turned off during the class period.

 "The reason for that is that I feel that they are in a class that is an hour long, hour and a half long, and the purpose of the class is for education and to learn.  If they are distracted during class then that can take away from the learning atmosphere of the classroom and the purpose of the classroom," Natale said.

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While professors realize that cell phones have the potential to distract students during their class time, it is also their concern that it sidetracks their ability to teach as well.  Natale also says that seeing students text during her lectures does make her feel a little self-conscience and question whether or not they are absorbing what she is saying.

"It does distract me from what I'm trying to do and it does take away from my confidence level to think, "Okay are the students really listening to me and paying attention to what I am saying," Natale said.

Aside from being a distraction, cell phones also provide another opportunity to cheat.  With the way phones are today, the constant Internet access always makes an option available to look up an answer during a test or text another person during the test.  Natale said that she has been fortunate that she has not found many students using their cell phones to cheat but certainly understands how appealing it is to basically have the answers at their fingertips during an exam.

 "Certainly I can see that would be a major problem: the temptations to look something up, to Google an answer or to ask someone in class by texting them, "what's the answer to number five."  So of course, that takes away from the standards that we have at Westminster," Natale said.

According to a 2011 survey conducted at the University of New Hampshire, more than 1,000 students said that they do not believe texting should be allowed during class and almost half feel guilty when they do text during the period.  Fifty-one percent of the students surveyed said they do get distracted when they text during class.  Westminster College junior Bradley Thomas said that he does not feel it hinders his learning capabilities but does feel like he misses out when he is using his cell phone.

"I wouldn't say it takes away from my ability to learn but I know it's quite distracting.  So, I could miss something that is quite important because you do see people texting and you want to know what they're testing about or what they're doing on their phone and it's just never a good distraction when you're in class," Thomas said.

Associate Professor of Communications Dr.  Keith Corso makes it clear in his syllabus that cell phones are not permitted to be on in class from the time it begins until it finishes.  Particularly in the speech classes he teaches, he prohibits cell phones completely because it hinders their attention for the students who are presenting.  Corso says that while texting while a student or professor is speaking is distracting, it is what texting has done to personal conversation which frustrates him.

"But it also has a lot to do with manners as well.  If you're trying to have a conversation or listen and your texting, that's just behavior and that's something that we need to get back to and that is the appropriate behavior when you're having conversations with other people and you're in a communication situation with other people," Corso said.