This week I uncovered an unusual situation in one of my classes and I can't decide whether my students are out of line or whether I'm an old fogey who needs to get with the program. Maybe there's a middle ground? Help me decide:
I was reading a draft when I saw some familiar words: instead of analyzing a particular work of literature, the student was summarizing what I'd said about the work in class. Now it's not unusual for students to parrot back some version of my words, but since that kind of paper usually doesn't engage in any real analysis, it generally earns a Very Bad Grade. But this was different: this time I saw entire sentences that I distinctly recall coming out of my mouth in class. I can imagine that this might happen if the student took very good notes, but in fact I've never actually seen this student write anything down in class--he just sits there staring at his laptop screen. So how did he reproduce a whole paragraph of my words?
Because he's recording class sessions to listen to later. And, as it turns out, he's not the only one: a whole mess of students are choosing to record my classes instead of taking notes or engaging in discussion. Someone suggested that maybe they got in the habit of recording classes on Zoom and they can't break free of the habit now that we're face-to-face, which seems plausible, but I want it to stop and I want it to stop right now.
One voice in my head says we live in a digital age so students are accustomed to learning experiences mediated by machines so I should just get over myself and let them do whatever works, but a louder voice reminds me that what they're doing isn't working: they're not taking notes or engaging in the class as it happens, and then they're echoing my words instead of thinking independently. Studies show (I think? Citation needed!) that we remember more of what we write down than what we merely hear, but maybe this generation doesn't learn that way? Or maybe they're listening to recordings of my class over and over until they've memorized the material? Or maybe they're editing snippets together to make me sound like a raving lunatic? (It wouldn't be that difficult.)
I'm fumbling around for reasons to make them stop because the primary reason is that being recorded creeps me out. I don't like having my photo taken or being videotaped or recorded in any way, which is one reason teaching on Zoom was such a soul-destroying experience, and being recorded without my permission feels like a massive violation. If I outlaw laptops in the classroom, they'll use their phones, and I'm not going to go around asking students to empty their pockets to prove that they're not surreptitiously recording the class. I just want them to be fully present and engage in the moment instead of putting off their learning until they can listen to the recording.
So I talked to the Associate Provost for Talking Faculty Off the Ledge, who promised that an email would go out reminding all students that recording people without their permission is not okay. That reminder is unlikely to deter anyone, so what then? Do I carry on as usual and hope for the best, or do I become the Classroom Recording Police looking for opportunities to confiscate their electronic devices? Or is there some better way?
I can't make a reasonable decision when I'm this upset, so I'm accepting suggestions. Are my students out of line--or am I?
4 comments:
I would regularly audio record my Western Civ class only because I couldn't always keep up typing with the intricate detail of the lecture. Plus I made a nice summary CD of stories the professor would tell during brain breaks for an end of semester gift. But I was still definitely taking notes and engaging in class. One other possibility is that they are not using recording, but they are using the new dictation feature of Office to create manuscripts of the lectures directly. This breaks no policy or law that I can think of, and your voice itself would not be recorded in that case. This dictation feature also allows for realtime translation service, so if English is not the person's native language, this could be a major crutch to the point of failing to learn English well.
I don't allow recordings because I want students to feel comfortable asking questions, no matter how stupid they worry their questions are. I am concerned that recording chills conversation, especially among the people who need to ask questions the most. And in my non-math classes, we discuss potentially sensitive topics where there's a lot of learning to be done but could potentially end someone's political career if a recording got out 20 years from now.
Disabilities services at my uni recognizes this as a problem, so they have very strict rules about how the recordings/transcriptions can be used whenever I've had a student who needs accommodations. So far it seems like other students aren't worried about their questions getting posted on twitter or youtube when it's going through disability services.
Since I'm not sure what the laws are in your state (some states are two-party consent states, meaning no recording unless all who are recorded agree), I'd approach it as "why it's not a good idea," using politeness, potential impact on classroom discussions, some people don't like to be recorded, etc., and encourage them to inform if they plan to.
I think your students are out of line, but maybe not as massively as it feels to you.
I'm someone in the business world, so my perspective is a little different. It might be worth pointing out to your students at the start of the semester that you discourage recording your class because you've seen people tune out when they know they have a recording to fall back on, and that tuning out doesn't serve them. If they bring nothing of themselves to the class discussion or their own papers, they're not gaining skills that they're going to need in most jobs. Most bosses and coworkers are not happy with the person who sits and just states back what other people have said, even when the other people in question are managers.
I don't know if this is allowed or a good use of time, but I would probably try to add in some graded components that would make recording less useful. I would include discussion participation as part of the student's grade. I would also consider putting in a few surprise, graded in-class micro-writing assignments. Have a class discussion for 30 min, then have them write for 20 min about the topic that was just discussed. Tell them, "if you were going to write a paper about this right now, jot down your thesis and explain why you picked it." Etc. Because a habit of tuning out and relying on a recording is not going to work in their favor if they're put on the spot like that.
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