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Shirky almost completely ignores pedagogy in this article. While this paragraph addresses learning and course structure, he doesn’t address or attempt to justify the learning modes that banning laptops is meant to protect. The assumption of his argument is that the classroom is a place where mostly lectures (and some discussions) happen. I do not doubt that portable electronics provide unique challenges to lecturing; but is this narrow definition of the classroom — a place where an instructor delivers knowledge to students who must pay attention — one we should be defending from these increasingly ubiquitous technologies?

Yet, what goes unremarked on in the study is how abysmally all of the students did on the comprehension tests.

Students didn’t start being distracted in class with the introduction of laptops, so instructors are better off addressing the root problem: making their courses engaging and interesting.

why must we ask the 21st century to wait outside our classes? Is it just to protect the lecture? We know what a classroom designed around lectures, notes, and quizzes can do, and it is not impressive.

Perhaps by embracing the new forms and structures of communication enabled by laptops and other portable electronics we might discover new classroom practices that enable new and better learning outcomes.

what is the value of pedagogies like lecturing? What is the value of attention-structuring activities like note-taking?

I’m not for banning lectures, either. What I am for is pedagogies that are nimble and responsive to a range of needs and outcomes for both instructor and student. The lecture has its place. Asking students to close their laptops has its place. But, failing to explore new possibilities for education prompted by emerging technologies does not serve the interests of either group.

the school needs to create an atmosphere for reflection

a time and a place for looking backward and inward, not forward and outward

We are going to take a break from what we have been doing, stand back, and ask ourselves, What have we learned from doing our work today?

the tradition in education is to simply discard what has happened and move on to new topics. This episodic approach is reflected in both classroom instruction and assessment and in change efforts as schools frantically strive to stay abreast of an array of educational improvements and mandates. Knowledgeable, vigilant, and reflective organizations, however, view school change from a broader perspective—as a process of revealing and emancipating

In reflective schools, there is no such thing as failure—only the production of personal insights from one's experiences.

which dispositions were you most aware of in your own learning

Collecting work provides documentation for comparing students' levels of knowledge and performance at the beginning, middle, and end of a project.

Ask yourself what they need to get on in life, the bare minimum (like filling in a job application), and concentrate on that.

telling the truth is the most important thing, much more important than the grammar

I would often ask them to describe operations that they take for granted. Ask a girl to write a paragraph on how she braids her sister’s hair. Ask a boy to explain a sports rule. These are just basic starting points, where students learn to write on paper what they might tell a friend. It keeps it concrete. If you ask a kid to write on “My Favorite Movie,” you’re opening the door to subjectivity, and hence to a flood of clichés

See, then say

A good reader digging into a good book is wonderful. Musical

Reading good fiction is like making the jump from masturbation to sex

Good teachers can be trained, if they really want to learn (some are pretty lazy). Great teachers, like Socrates, are born

What about teaching? Craft, or art?King: It’s both. The best teachers are artists