Imagine if I not only knew whether you did the assigned reading for class, but which passages in the book you paid attention to, and which you skimmed. I would have complete knowledge of who is prepared, every day.
The horror!
Interestingly, many professors are starting to use an e-book coupled with software that compiles this information for the professor. As described in this New York Times article, CourseSmart, a Silicon Valley start-up, is the first company to not only track use of the e-book, but to compile this information about individual students and send it to the professor. I know what my reaction is to this idea, but I was really curious as to what students thought about it.
On one hand, anything I can do to assess what is being understood by students, and focus our class time to explain the things that aren’t being understood, is helpful. It seems to me that this software is something different altogether. It truly is, “Big brother” but I doubt the good intentions part. I really want my students to be prepared. You learn more in class if you have read before hand, and class discussion is more interesting, fun, and enriching if students have prepared. Yet, my general philosophy on my students’ education is that it is just that: your education. By the time you get to college, you are on your way to being a grown up. If you don’t want to learn much in my class, that is your choice. Your grade will reflect your lack of effort, but I do not take it personally. It is your education, your opportunity. Don’t misunderstand my philosophy for indifference or apathy. I may be laid back in some ways, but I try really hard to help students. But ultimately students’ time in college is what they choose to make it, no matter how motivating, accessible, or inspiring I try to be.
So, I am not sure what I would gain from this software. If I knew how much you actually read, or didn’t read, I might be disheartened and frustrated. But I am not sure I would “punish” anyone for not reading enough. It seems to be treating you like 3rd graders that lose recess for not doing homework. And in my mind, if you aren’t reading on a regular basis, you are already being punished by wasting a heck of a lot of money.
What do you think about professors monitoring your homework?
6 Comments
Pooja posted on April 14, 2013 at 11:25 am
This is really interesting. Honestly, this software sounds really interesting and beneficial to professors. It can help them gear their lessons and help students. However, this wouldn’t be surprised it students found this extremely frustrating. Students have different styles. Some read throughout the semester, some read everything about a week before the exam, etc. So, if one does the latter, a professor would obviously know. Everything you said about how it’s “our education” is totally right. A lot of students do not take full advantage of their semesters, their resources, and their time. I hear so many stories of older people who wish they could do it again or who wish they had the opportunities we had. We have all the opportunities, but we don’t take full advantage of it and many of us will regret it in the future. Maybe this software will help remove the guilt? Students will feel bad if they knew their professors knew how often they read, so students may just do it for that purpose. But, it’s still getting the job done.
Andie Firestone posted on April 14, 2013 at 3:27 pm
This concept is very interesting. While it is a good idea to monitor the amount the of time and effort students spend preparing for class, this seems a little bit too invasive. Students have very different learnings styles, some may learn best from skimming the chapter and focusing on the ending summaries, while others may learn better by reading each paragraph in depth. Also, your point about it being “our education” is very true. I think students put as much or as little effort into their work as they see best fit. This will obviously be reflected in their final grade, so I think it is unnecessary to monitor the exact pages and concepts thats students go over before class. This would be a better idea if it focused more on the concepts people were having trouble with, by not placing a name with their work. This way, if the majority of students are having trouble on a particular topic, the professor would be able to explain it during class without having a pre-conceived notion of who read and understood it and who didn’t.
Yang Liu Steve posted on April 16, 2013 at 8:11 pm
This is interesting. I am from China. Back there, everything is about reading and memorizing. Anything additional is consider “wrong”. Obviously its pretty straight forward, since it all you do is read and try to remember it as much as you can. But I don’t think that’s a good way to teach. I love the way it has been handled here. Yeah, reading is important, but I feel that in-class discussion or idea sharing is way useful in terms of leaning. In addition, I feel much more engaged when a professor is actually telling the concept rather than absorb from text. And to be honest, it doesn’t really matter if there is a monitor or not. Students will just find a way if they don’t want to . I think if the professor is doing a great job of teach, the student will read ahead voluntarily. Big Brother is just not going to work.
Kristen Kruczkowski posted on April 18, 2013 at 8:44 pm
I honestly am not sure if this software will be effective. The students who want to get value out of class will read and be prepared to engage in discussion when class takes place. The students who do not have an interest in participating will simply continue to not read or find a way around the system. I know some students that would spend more time attempting to cheat the technology than they would taking the time to actually read the material and prepare for class. I know, personally, I read for LA346 because participation and being an active participant in class discussion makes me think more deeply about the material and, in turn, remember more material for the exams.
Robin Wan posted on April 19, 2013 at 4:43 pm
I understand the good intention of the software to make sure that students are reading class materials. With that, the responsibility to understand course concept should fall to the students, not the professor or the course. Every student has different way to read and study. By not providing this technology, it can allow students to feel responsible for their study, not just brushing through reading. Professors can not force students to read, but they can provide incentives by grading on class participations or through pop quizzes to make sure students read and understand the materials. The software provides wrong motivation to read, which in term, would not be as successful.
Peter England posted on May 7, 2013 at 1:23 am
Overall, I think the idea of monitoring textbook reading is setting a bad precedent for future things to come. I’m not sure what will come next after this, but it sounds like it could lead to some sort of invasion of privacy (even though online I shouldn’t expect much).
Also, monitoring reading seems like a high school idea to me. Almost every English we had a quiz on the reading the night before, and I feel like a pop quiz can easily accomplish testing students to see if they read or not. I still think it is a high school idea, but it seems way better than monitoring readings to me. I know reading the night before helps classroom discussions, but students learn different ways. If I read a chapter a month before an exam, I may not go back and review it before the exam. Some students do better cramming, others do better spacing out their work, and I don’t think we should be punished for studying and learning which ever way we prefer.