Editor’s Note8212;This is the second part in a three-part series about Facebook and study habits.
Facebook distracts students during classes, but there isn’t a push to have it removed from the U’s server.
Hiram Chodosh, dean of the S.J. Quinney Law Library, said he doesn’t want to push away Facebook and other social networking sites. Instead, the law school has a technology initiative that is working on embracing social networks and integrating them into the classroom.
“It’s paradoxical that some of the schools would be banning the access to networking sites when they are using social networking sites to attract students and then not allow it on campus,” Chodosh said, referring to schools such as the University of Chicago’s law school, which blocks Facebook and other social sites from public computers. Chicago students with laptops can still access them on private computers.
The solution to the Facebook distractions is not to ban wireless or block sites, but to create a classroom environment where technology is either well utilized or not used at all, Chodosh said. Professors should have a very intense lecture that doesn’t allow students to be distracted, which engages students, he said.
“If you’re about to be called, it is going to be embarrassing if you’re distracted on Facebook,” Chodosh said.
In law school, you get called on a lot, so you have to be paying attention, said RuthAnne Frost, a second-year law student.
When Frost completed her undergraduate degree at the U, very few people had laptops and the wireless connection wasn’t very good, she said. During her senior year, Facebook started gaining popularity but she still didn’t see it popping up in classrooms.
Facebook and other social networks are new and foreign for classroom use. It’s easiest just to block it, said Aaron Dewald, director of the technology initiative for the law school.
Dewald said technology integration with Facebook is successful when Facebook is understood and when people are taught about its practical applications.
Students will use what they learn in class in real life8212;if it’s blocked, they have no experience working with social networks and they won’t know what to do with it beyond graduation, Dewald said.
Another part of the initiative Dewald is working on is educating faculty on what students are involved in online.
Different departments on campus are also working more with Facebook. The Marriott Library joined Facebook in December. The U fan page has been on Facebook since August, with different videos and events posted. Departments ranging from the athletic department to the College of Nursing are creating Facebook pages.
Facebook can’t be blocked8212;it needs to be embraced, Dewald said.
“If they’re not on Facebook, they’re on MySpace. If they’re not on that, they’re on Twitter,” Dewald said.
Watch the Youtube video about technology distractions at the U