Teachers Losing War for Attention

*Some names in this story have been changed to retain student anonymity and privacy.  

A loud ding lifts every head in the class as all eyes look up from their computers and glare at Rachel. Her face turns red. She immediately looks down, pretending she was taking notes the whole time.  

Rachel sits upright in the black swivel chair, pretending she is ready to learn. In reality, she is texting a curly-headed boy who sits across the room. Rachel hits the return button on her keyboard and sends a text that is delivered across the room. A blonde, one seat over from Rachel, peers over to try and see the text.  

“She keeps looking over my shoulder and reading my texts,” Rachel tells him about the blonde, who sits one seat over with nothing but a pen and paper out in front of her.  

Rachel glimpses over her shoulder and defensively pulls the computer closer to herself. Despite this, the blonde is focused, copying down notes from the blackboard. Rachel’s grip on her computer gets looser, and she decides to cross her legs, finding comfort in the realization that no one other than the one boy read that text.  

Rachel chooses to pass the very monotone 90-minute classes with constant clicking on her laptop. The bare blue walls surrounding her only bore her more, influencing her to stay looking at her screen. A steady flow of names popping up on her screen keeps her company throughout class time.  

Now that her nerves have settled, she starts to shop online at Princess Polly in hopes of finding a new dress. The blonde peers back over, gazing alongside Rachel at all the different dresses. Fluffy pink ones, long silky ones, some she watches Rachel add to her bag to buy. Lilly starts to gain perspective on Rachel’s style. The sudden sound of water droplets smashing onto the slick whiteboard tears the two’s attention away from the overly priced dresses. Lilly does not finish her notes.  

Professors do not like when students use distractive technology during class. Ashley Rife teaches as an adjunct professor at St. Lawrence University. Her piercing blue eyes are constantly squinted, a small dimple is always present on the right side of her face, and a feeling of kindness consistently shines through her permanent smile. However, her smile fades while talking about her students abusing technology during class.  

“It depends on the day; however, some days I just get mad,” Rife giggles as her cheeks turn red from her blunt honesty. “Some days I feel disrespected, and some days I feel well; it’s their choice when students get on their phones.”  

Rife teaches in a room full of computers. The green lights of their power buttons blink, luring students to turn them on. The black screens taunt each person to look at them and get lost in a world of unlimited information. Rife understands her students’ desire to immerse themselves in all the different shopping sites, games and information. She also lives with the gravitational pull to distract herself with technology when trying to do other tasks. Rife wishes that technology was banned from classrooms because of what is missed in the class.  

“Little details that are important to the class always get lost because students are constantly distracting themselves on their laptops,” she sighs helplessly.   

Rife says that in her classes, every student distracts themselves at least five times. She watches helplessly as eye contact vanishes one after the other during class. The National Library of Medicine finds that ringing cell phones or computers are the most common classroom distraction.  

George is used to the college classroom expectations by now.  

“I make sure to charge my computer every night, so I have it ready for my classes,” He said in a matter-of-fact tone.  

George is a double major in finance and business. His classes are very relaxed.   

“Students come into class 10 minutes late with lunch in their hand sometimes; the professor is just happy to see them,” he states with a look of deviance, like he is getting let off the hook.  

St. Lawrence University’s average class size is 16 students. However, even with smaller classes, students do not get distracted by people coming in late. Most students don’t care because they are not listening to the first ten minutes anyway. Everyone is either locked into some game on their computer, doing the homework due for that class or doing homework for another class. George admits that is what he usually keeps himself busy with.   

“I go on my computer all class long,” George admits. “I don’t even need to show up if I don’t want to; attendance is optional for most of my classes.”  

His constant grin showcases the small gap between his front teeth. He rocks back and forth in the wooden chair, trying to keep busy to distract himself. He claims that he just got lucky with his professors and that they are “just chill.” He wipes his hands on the desk, and a trail of sweat follows the direction he pulls. George’s face falls straight, and his eyes look away.   

Technology within the classroom is strongly debated. However, how often within the classroom do students look something up that their professor cannot answer for them? Technology was once an amazing feat to expand one’s knowledge, but over the years, it has been abused by many. Students often rely on technology as a distracting form of entertainment during their classes. Learning isn’t something expected of students anymore; spending time scrolling on their phones is.  

Sarah Knobel is a Digital Media and Film professor at St. Lawrence, and her teaching is designed around technology. When students work, she sees that their phones not only distract them, but messages also pop up on their computers.  

“As I am helping them, messages are coming up from their friends, and it makes me wonder how much they are even paying attention to what I am showing them,” Knobel says.  

Her tense face begins to get sterner as she talks. The irritation has been bottled up for a while, evidenced by her hands motioning in the direction of where the distracted students sit. Knobel feels sad when students go on their phones to distract themselves from her teaching.  

“You question what you’re covering. Sometimes, when they are texting, I wonder if they are making fun of something in the class,” Knobel admits. “It just gets distracting and honestly [is] very disrespectful.”