Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Shorts 

A couple of quick notes before I leave for the day:

Regarding the antiwar walkout on Monday, a Minnesotan wonders whether the timing of this to the departure of Minnesota National Guard troops to Iraq. I hadn't really thought of it; I did not see any signs speaking directly to MNG troops in the photos I saw. But it might have come up in speeches. She wonders if they did this the prior two years. I'm sure they did on the one-year anniversary. On the two year in 2005? I think they were still sitting shiva for Kerry.

Taxprof notes a law professor who has banned laptops from her classroom because they are distracting. I see very few laptops; I do teach in labs where each student has a computer, and they've been emailing and IMing for years. There is a piece of software you can put in labs, though, that allows you to put the student's screen on your screen (and if you wish, on the overhead, but I've heard a story of someone finding their student viewing p%rn) or to put on their screen what is on yours and nothing else. I treat this just like the calculator question -- the best way to solve it is to standardize them. We have $2 calculators for our students to use during exams; no problem. This will come in other technologies before long.

Now if I could just invent that device that gives a short, sharp electrical shock to the student whose cellphone rings in class...

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