Thursday, September 27, 2001

Colleges installing software to deter Web-surfing during class
By Jordan Blum
Staff Reporter

Junior political science major Aaron Christian said he sometimes ended up surfing the Internet instead of paying attention to the lecture during one of his business classes.

“Instead of listening to the lecture, I would either mess around on the Internet or do instant messaging,” Christian said. “In my class it was very common and it really wasn’t hard to do. I’d just shut it off when the professor would walk around.”

Erin Munger/PHOTO EDITOR Joi Harris, a senior broadcast journalism major, works on an assignment in Media Writing and Editing II lab Wednesday night.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, schools such as the University of Michigan, University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Virginia have either spent money to install “kill switch” buttons to the Internet or have banned Internet connections altogether in classrooms due to students using the Internet inappropriately during classes.

Various instructors on campus have mixed responses over the use of “kill switches.”

Jane Mackay, director of the e-business program, said new software was installed at TCU in February for the computers in the RadioShack E-Business Laboratory to enhance learning and decrease student distractions.

“We installed SynchronEyes software in the lab and it can lock the keyboards up during lectures,” Mackay said. “It can also broadcast a student’s computer screen in the front of the room, so I can see what they’re doing or show examples to the class.”

Mike Gerst, adjunct faculty member of the journalism department, said restricting Internet access in classrooms is not the answer.

“Freedom of information is important, so I don’t think you can put a muzzle on it,” Gerst said. “I don’t think you can regulate against it. Even though 99 percent of the Internet may be garbage, there’s all kinds of great things you need access to in an academic setting.”

Gerst also said he tries to keep the class focused by keeping an eye on what the students are doing in his computer-assisted reporting class.

“I like to walk down the aisles and see what’s on the students’ screens,” Gerst said.

“So if I catch a student with porn on the screen, I know it probably doesn’t have anything to do with my class.

“It’s distracting to me when I hear, ‘You’ve got mail’ during a lecture. I know everyone does it, and I’d have done the same as a student. But if I catch someone, I’m going to make sure everyone knows I caught them goofing off.”

Chuck Miller, the Computer Support Services coordinator for the School of Business, said the software and installation cost approximately $1,000.

Mackay said having students playing on the computers can be a problem for some professors, but she has not had any major problems dealing with it.

“In the other labs I can usually keep the students busy,” Mackay said. “But if I perceive there’s going to be a problem during a lecture I just have them turn their monitors off.

“Generally, I walk up and down the aisles and if I see someone playing on the computer, I’ll just snap the button and shut off the machine. The class sees I know what they’re doing.”

Gerst said if a professor is not interesting, then students will not pay attention, but the professor still deserves respect and attention from students.

“If a student wants to goof on his time then that’s fine,” Gerst said. “But give the teacher respect and don’t abuse your privileges in the classroom.”

Mackay said even though she thinks she prevents the students from playing on the computers in class, it is possible that students occasionally get away with stuff.

“Maybe people are doing stuff in class sometimes when I’m lecturing, but if they are it’s their loss,” Mackay said.

Jordan Blum
j.d.blum@student.tcu.edu