Cracking Down On Skipping Class By Douglas Belkin Summary

990 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of technology on classrooms and students

Imagine you are back in high school, with your parents constantly hounding you to be present in class and that overwhelming feeling that if you aren’t in class, you will fail that course as well as disappoint your parents. One of the many responsibilities that come with being in college is attending class, but as more and more universities are using this technology, this particular responsibility is becoming a foreign concept. Douglas Belkin’s essay, “Cracking Down on Skipping Class: High-Tech Trackers Aim to Boost Attendance, as Colleges Seek High Graduation Rates”, he reports that new technology is being developed in order to provide more motivation for college students to successfully pass their classes (115). This technology creates more of an interaction between professors and students and it allows the student to be more engaged in the lecture (116). My view is that by utilizing high-tech attendance monitoring systems, it disregards the deeper …show more content…

If a student decides to skip class knowing that they are being tracked and knowing that the school will inform their parents of their location, it is embarrassing. College students get caught up in the new found freedom they never had and make poor decisions like skipping class. College is the place to make and learn from mistakes without having anyone telling you what to do and how to fix it. Using high-tech trackers defeats the purpose of learning from mistakes and removes the choice students can make towards a certain class. For example, if a student needs a mental health day and decides not to attend class, their parents would immediately know and will most likely argue and lecture the student. It is also humiliating to the student because they cannot decide what is best for them without getting any repercussion to their decision. It’s like the parents are still making the student’s decision for

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Texting In Class Is Rampant

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Michael Rubinkam’s “Texting in class is Rampant” brings awareness to the fact that most students use their phones during a lecture to text. Many professors are starting to notice it and some have even gone to extremes by having punishments if they see a phone out. Michael Rubinkam conducted a number of surveys with students who attend Wilkes University to see how many students actually use their phones during class. The author also discusses with some professors at the university to see their opinion on how phone use in class can impact the student’s education and how it impacts them as well. There is no doubt that texting is a habit most high school and college students face. It’s our primary way of communication with people. We get so addicted to texting people considering it only takes a few seconds to reply, but with that being said does it interfere with our school life too? Sitting in a lecture and pulling your phone out can be distracting because you’re not paying attention to the professor and the skills they’re teaching you’re practically in your own world at that point. Is the excessive use of texting in class-harming student’s education? The author

    Read More

  • The Madness: On No Child Left Behind By Diane Ravitch

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ture education is when a child is given the needed skills to achieve their goals and survive the world. Teachers are meant to teach in a respectable manner and try in their utmost ability to help the students become knowledgeable of the world and skills in certain subjects. In the United States, the education system is purpose is this, but is not reaching it’s purpose, instead the country is leading to it’s own downfall. To others, the education system is a work in progress so it’s expected to be slightly off the goal of a true education. Although some may believe that the education system is a work in progress, even with the added “improvements” of the Common Core Standards, it is a broken system and doesn’t reach the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of College Pressures By Zinsser

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Parents are forcing students to take classes they don’t want, leaving the student dull and unheard. Parents focus their kids to take challenging classes in order to satisfy their fear of the child getting into a good college. Students are told by parents and the school system that they must take this challenging class and extracurricular just meet ‘the standard quota” but reality it’s not true. For instance, Zinsser’s did a survey on Yale students and asked the students a question about their parental guidance and why they follow it. The results were scary, most students stated: “well my parents want me to be a doctor… They’re paying all this money….” (Zinsser

    Read More

  • Limiting Students Online Speech

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Grabber- We are all privileged to live in a free nation, where we can do what we desire. But, what if one day you were told that your school can monitor your every action on the interweb and can punish you for your online activities on and off campus? Well, certainly many students would protest without hesitating, for that they would no longer have privacy.

    Read More

  • Nicholas Carr's How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    ” Carr uses this example to provide evidence of how smartphones pose as a distraction and interrupt students from their work. Carr also uses “nearly a hundred secondary schools.” This example is used so readers can grasp the large amount of schools that are involved in the issue. Lastly Carr uses “The subjects whose phones were in view posted the worst scores, while those who left their phones in a different room did the best.”

    Read More

  • English 111 Student Analysis

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    I am determined to have a perfect attendance when it comes to my college classes. Keeping a balanced attendance allows me to be up to date with assignments and set an excellent example of myself. Participating in class activities like writing on the board or reading aloud examples, was not my one of my biggest strong suits. Although I spoke out in my assigned groups, which brought a lot more attention to myself, I did not openly speak out in front of the whole class and volunteer myself. This is a certain area that I need to improve on. Although I did not speak out as openly as I should, I always came fully prepared. Being prepared and organized helped keep everything I needed together so I could perform at my fullest potential. In addition, I made sure to create reminders on my phone notifying what I would need, when to work on a certain assignment for the class, and especially for my conferences with Dr. Kennedy (refer to page 3). For my future classes, I will continue to have perfect attendance, be organized, and practice my writing. In time, I will become better at speaking out in

    Read More

  • College is not for everyone

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nefit the young adult, or cause many financial problems if the student were to drop out.

    Read More

  • Summary Of In Defense Of The Igeneration

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people argue that by using laptops during lectures, students are able to actively participate in the class and they have better communication with the professors despite large class sizes (Fried, 2008, p.2). Through classroom resources such as university and course online platforms, students are able to access the information they are learning about in their lectures. However, students themselves also have a very particular view on this topic, as they are very protective over their belongings and do not want to have their laptops banned from the classroom: “more and more faculty are banning laptops from their classrooms because of perceptions that they distract students and detract from learning,” (Fried, 2008, p.1). Prohibiting the use of laptops in university classrooms is becoming a more common solution to multitasking and student distraction. Universities enforce this regulation in order to prevent distraction and multitasking from impacting a students and surrounding student’s academic

    Read More

  • 1984 Argumentative Essay

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    Northern Arizona University set up these electronic scanners outside of classrooms so that they can monitor who actually shows up to class. They have to scan their ID and when the light turns green they are marked present. It bothers a lot of people because they feel like college is a time where they finally get to make decisions on their own. The students feel like it is very unnecessary because it shouldn't matter who shows up to class, it matters that you take part in the class discussion and actually learn. “ Rather than focusing on, ‘Did they scan their car?’- the more important thing to think about is what they are doing in the classroom” (University Attendance Scanners Make Some Uneasy). Paying for classes will not stop kids from skipping. A lot of people drop out of college before they even get a chance to finish it. “About 3 in every 10 students drop out after the first year” (University Attendance Scanners Make Some Uneasy). If putting this system in front of every class motivates people to show up to class and do their work then they hope that the dropout percentages will decrease. “ THe stronger a student’s grade performance in the first year, the far more likely they are to persist at NAU and graduate” University Attendance Scanners Make Some Uneasy). Even though that electronical scanner seems tedious, it will help more people in the long

    Read More

  • Humor In The Classroom By Halberstam Joshua

    263 Words  | 1 Pages

    Halberstam Joshua uses humor to effectively communicate his message to the college students that are looking to be successful in college. By communicating on a lighter note, the author has helped the readers to solve the dilemmas between ethics and culture. His style is rather informal and one that requires little preparation, which makes it interesting to read his work. Halberstam introduces a topic on attendance, he begins it with an introductory statement where he humorously states that despite him not taking attendance, he does not owe favors to anyone (Halberstam 1). Consequently, he draws insights and evidence from the colleges system that some professors are strict on class attendance and participation, while

    Read More

  • Analysis Of School Is Bad For Children By John Holt

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “School is Bad for Children”, John Holt discusses the faults and failures of the education system. According to Holt traditional schooling stifles children’s curiosity and learning, causing them to be ill-equipped as adults. He believes children are smarter before they enter school, having already mastered what he says is the most important thing, language. Holt goes on to describe how children no longer learn for themselves in school. Their learning has become a passive process. Children then come to realize teachers are not there to satisfy their curiosity, and in turn, grow ashamed and accept what they think teachers wants them to believe. School also becomes a place where uncertainty and incorrect answers are forbidden. The students learn how to cheat and pretend to work when the teacher is looking. As a result, they only use a small portion of their brain, and soon they grow bored. Holt suggests this boredom shuts off their brain and is the reason why many students turn to drugs. Drugs he says is the only way many young people can find awareness in the world they once had when they were little. Children John Holt says, are very fascinated

    Read More

  • Laptops in The Classroom

    2075 Words  | 5 Pages

    Older generations would tell stories about how the technology one now has, did not exist in their days. Currently, it is something one cannot live without; especially for students who use their laptops for registering online for classes, written assignments, taking notes in Word documents, doing researches now that databases and libraries are available online, and viewing the PowerPoint slides along with the professor when he is lecturing. Because personal laptops are not being monitored, professors have little control of what a student is doing on their laptops while sitting in his or her classroom. An article by Carrie B. Fried entitled, In-Class Laptop Use and Its Effects on Student Learning, she stated that out of the participating surveyors that she surveyed, “64.3% reported using their laptops...

    Read More

  • Against Mandatory Attendance Policies in College

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    While studying or even registering for a class presents a challenge to some college students, the greatest obstacle remains, going to class. Attending college is supposed to signify a new found freedom to make many important choices regarding education without high school mandatory attendance policies. However, students everywhere are coming to the staggering realization that college is not too different from high school. Teachers still take class roll and students are still expected to be at every class on time. What next, hall monitors in the hall? The time has come for action to be taken. Colleges must abolish mandatory student attendance policies for several reasons to be further discussed.

    Read More

  • Should Class Attendance Be Optional to University Students?

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nowadays, universities are open place for all people. More and more educational chances have been created for those who want to acquire knowledge from colleges and universities. While registering for a college course seems to be no longer complicated, there still remains an obstacle that has been triggered so much controversy in academic environment: mandatory attendance policy. This policy, which is imposed by some schools or some professors, requires that college student must attend class regularly enough or their exam papers will be extracted some attendance points (that usually count for about 15 or 20 percent of the total grade evaluation). In my opinion, this policy is useless and burdensome to many people involved. University students should be free in choosing which classes to attend.

    Read More

  • Tardiness And Absenteeism

    1716 Words  | 4 Pages

    Attendance is a crucial aspect of a student’s education. When a student is tardy or absent, this interferes with them receiving the information given in class. Class introductions that include instructions, objectives, due dates, etc. may be missed if a student is tardy and if a student is absent, they may also get behind on their class work and homework. Communication between teacher and students about the classroom management procedures for these two things are important so that students are informed and are able to take the initiative to gather what they have missed which can help avoid them falling behind. If tardies and absences are frequent, a teacher may begin to be concerned and question what could be the possible reasons behind it, whether that be an outside force in a student’s life or something that may be happening in the teacher’s own classroom. Establishing a relationship and reflecting upon oneself as a teacher to why the class might be having

    Read More

More about Cracking Down On Skipping Class By Douglas Belkin Summary

Open Document