tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post3595462154917924399..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: Meeting of the LaptopsFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-860288109841820872009-04-30T11:43:00.000-05:002009-04-30T11:43:00.000-05:00We're not in the seventies anymore.
Mentally acti...We're not in the seventies anymore.<br /><br />Mentally active people do not sit on their hands for an hour listening to a droning lecture anymore, and taking notes by hand is largely a waste of time - no electronic version is captured for editing, unreadable handwriting, can't easily share to compare notes.<br /><br />Also the level of presentations expected and delivered has risen with available tools such as powerpoint, video clips, and video conferencing.<br /><br />Fighting the use of laptops is akin to fighting the printing press.John Vidalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09871768524749705799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-92041323386347952062009-04-29T15:11:00.000-05:002009-04-29T15:11:00.000-05:00In the last large undergrad lecture I took, there ...In the last large undergrad lecture I took, there was a student who played a FPS game with flashy visuals sitting near the front. You could see the entire column of students behind him tipping slightly with him as the screen veered. Needless to say, this was very distracting. I feel similarly about students using FB in class - particularly because the students around them lean in to see.<br /><br />At conferences, quiet typing in the back of the room on a text based (or perhaps with the occasional science figure) doesn't bother me. But if I were a professor in a class that did not go so fast that typing was superior, I would ban laptops.zoenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-48638817679155092812009-04-29T07:50:00.000-05:002009-04-29T07:50:00.000-05:00Having a laptop open while you're sitting alone in...Having a laptop open while you're sitting alone in the back row is fine, anywhere else is obnoxious. I find it really distracting when the person in front of me has their laptop open - and it's disrepectful to the speaker (and - sticky-beak that I am - I can report that they're never taking notes). One possible solution is a tablet-style laptop - much less distracting for anyone sitting behind you, and presumably easier to take notes on.Katienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-56662054186057530742009-04-29T01:18:00.000-05:002009-04-29T01:18:00.000-05:00It is rude to be using a laptop as an audience mem...It is rude to be using a laptop as an audience member - even if it is to take notes on the talk. Just as it is annoying to hear someone talking on their cell phone in a movie theater, similarly, the sound of your typing and the brightness of your screen are distracting to other audience members around you so it is inconsiderate. How frickin hard is it to just go somewhere else to use your laptop?? well at least if you are in the back corner of the room you will be less of an annoyance so I think that is more acceptable.<br /><br />I'm just amazed at how selfish people are that they feel they have the right to be disruptive just because they are too lazy to go somewhere else or too impatient to pospone their laptop use to a time when it won't be a public annoyance. Even if the laptop is being used to 'take notes' on the talk, it is still selfish to expect other people around you to deal with your disruption just so you can take your own notes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-44142512399833694542009-04-28T22:39:00.000-05:002009-04-28T22:39:00.000-05:00knitting is fine unless the needles are clicking! ...knitting is fine unless the needles are clicking! :)<br /><br />It occurs to me that using laptops during class lectures is an incredible waste of precious energy as well.<br /><br />Go, Green!<br /><br />As far as smaller classes, meetings, seminars (or 'journal clubs', where everyone is following along reading a paper), laptops can indeed be useful for these. <br /><br />But for they are worse than useless for large undergraad classes and I will always, Always hate the sound of typing when I am attending a talk. Just as I still get annoyed by people yammering on their cell phones in certain situations. Those of us on the sensitive end of the scale are doomed, that's all there is to it.<br /><br />The tablet someone mentioned sounds promising though, and probably uses less energy.Isabelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-67972074382900970682009-04-28T22:01:00.000-05:002009-04-28T22:01:00.000-05:00Maybe this is because my experience is primarily a...Maybe this is because my experience is primarily at engineering conferences, but the papers and schedules are handed out on CDs. Most people sit there with their laptops and have the paper open while the talk is going on, and there is almost always typing. The best solution is to make sure that the room is well-covered with cloth so that the excess sound is absorbed.<br /><br />And now that I know people knit during talks, I'll have to try crocheting. I do it all the time while talking with people or watching TV (which I seldom do). I feel the need to do something with my hands but that doesn't require any significant amount of concentration.<br /><br />So if you ask me, I think the knitters are just slightly understimulated and the knitting provides some physical stimulation. Unless you're working on a really tough pattern, a lot of it can be done while mentally being somewhere else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-46513900626123958712009-04-27T22:56:00.000-05:002009-04-27T22:56:00.000-05:00sent me frequent emails and things to read for a l...<I>sent me frequent emails and things to read for a looming deadline. During spare moments, I read, edited, and sent comments back to them so that I would not delay their progress despite being away. Some of these spare moments were during conference sessions.</I>Yet another reason why I say you're one of the best advisors ever. <br /><br />My advisor is perpetually traveling, and yet never seems to have time to attend to anything via email. Very strange since I know the laptop is perpetually present and open, even at conferences.Ms.PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06542602867472447035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-60957297050836328762009-04-27T22:50:00.000-05:002009-04-27T22:50:00.000-05:00In my opinion, the ideal conference attendee takes...In my opinion, the ideal conference attendee takes pictures of the talk and then immediately downloads them into his/her laptop while knitting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-42059739340398895042009-04-27T21:39:00.000-05:002009-04-27T21:39:00.000-05:00My ASUS EeePC is so small as to avoid being conspi...My ASUS EeePC is so small as to avoid being conspicuous. I have no qualms about typing down notes while listening to a talk. It's not as if I'm typing continuously ... just when an interesting point is made.<br /><br />No talk is going to be given in absolute silence. Expecting such would be unreasonable IMNSHO.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14211618861743447072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-92087497423962644872009-04-27T20:27:00.000-05:002009-04-27T20:27:00.000-05:00"At least with laptops, I can pretend you're takin..."At least with laptops, I can pretend you're taking notes..."<br /><br />Digger, you and John V can pretend that the students are taking notes, and as a TA who sits in the back of the room, I can assure you that that is in fact the case - about 0.01% of the time. <br /><br />The other 99.99% of the time the students are on Facebook, youtube, emailng or whatever. Often they are working on other assignments. <br /><br /><br />I have no objection to people getting up and leaving if they are not interested in the talk or lecture.Isabelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-38389642868917585202009-04-27T20:19:00.000-05:002009-04-27T20:19:00.000-05:00In the humanities, I rarely see people using lapto...In the humanities, I rarely see people using laptops to take notes at conferences. I tried it once about 10 years ago but felt so self-conscious that I never did it again.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-6931496037268939652009-04-27T18:44:00.000-05:002009-04-27T18:44:00.000-05:00This is the first semester I have taught where a s...This is the first semester I have taught where a significant number (about 1/4) of the students pop open their laptops during class and tappity-tap away.<br /><br />I find it disconcerting, but it may well be my age showing (late 30s, but still... my youngest sisters are almost a full generation younger than I, and 'tis a different reality). I also cannot go research notes to rough draft to final edit entirely on the screen (apparently, paper is passe).<br /><br />I recently read about live conference-tweeting/large class-tweeting, and as a speaker/lecturer using the tweet-stream as a means of fielding questions, clarifying points, etc. I think it might be very interesting!<br /><br />After some consideration, I think I find laptops less objectionable than texting on cellphones. At least with laptops, I can pretend you're taking notes...Diggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14851524413793098615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-36035236781045197402009-04-27T18:04:00.000-05:002009-04-27T18:04:00.000-05:00Count my vote for back of the room okay- Quietly, ...Count my vote for back of the room okay- Quietly, not frantically typing - emails nothing. It's distracting.<br />Some of us scrape money and out of pocket it to go to these things and if we can't hear the talk because of a laptop, it's no different than sitting there talking through it.<br /><br />But please don't sit anywhere in a group of people at the talk while pounding away on the keyboard. The sound can be much more disruptive than the glow of the screen or anything. And most of the time we are straining to see the talk, hear the talk, whatever. It's plain obnoxious in the manners book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-87995530852901595022009-04-27T17:26:00.000-05:002009-04-27T17:26:00.000-05:00One of the decisive moments for me when I discover...One of the decisive moments for me when I discovered the notion that you could be a scientist and a woman, too, was being in an extremely technical and scientific talk at a conference as a student. I didn't understand much of the talk at all.<br /><br />Up front a woman sat in a red dress and knitted furiously. During the discussion she raised her hand, was recognized, put down the knitting, gave an exquisite, sharp, and witty statement on the topic, sat down and resumed knitting.<br /><br />I asked who the woman was, someone noted that it was Prof. X. Wow - you can wear red dresses, knit, and still be a scientist-professor? I had thought that was all mutually exclusive.<br /><br />So here I am, I do wear dresses but not red ones, and I don't knit during a talk any more, but I do quietly check email, surf, edit, whatever, when confronted with a boring talk. Oh yeah, and I'm a professor :)EuropeanFemaleScienceProfessornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-22100828059577488412009-04-27T16:51:00.000-05:002009-04-27T16:51:00.000-05:00"Some of them are disturbed."
Compared to the dis..."Some of them are disturbed."<br /><br />Compared to the distractions of basketball stars, gymnasts, and Laker Girls when I was teaching at UCLA, a laptop need not make a big fuss.<br /><br />Today's class had a glorious vista across Lake Washington visible when their eyes wanted relief from the screen and their didact in their token science class.<br /><br />Zero disturbance tolerance is hard to enforce, and isn't a realistic goal.John Vidalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09871768524749705799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-55210783482815004762009-04-27T16:46:00.000-05:002009-04-27T16:46:00.000-05:00I agree completely with PK. I use my tablet PC to ...I agree completely with PK. I use my tablet PC to take notes (I am horrible at keeping anything on paper, so I need an electronic way of taking notes), and also I find it extremely useful to check things online during talks (technical details about instruments, or just basic info about a protein or enzyme I know nothing about). Being online during a talk helps me get the most out of talks that are not extremely close to my field.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-2522269306860626742009-04-27T16:14:00.000-05:002009-04-27T16:14:00.000-05:00"
So long as those around them are not disturbed...."<br /><br />So long as those around them are not disturbed."<br /><br />John,<br /><br />Some of the people around them are disturbed. You can count on it. <br /><br />As far as conference attendees sitting in the back, perhaps it is appropriate in some cases, if you really are inaudible and discrete...Isabelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-55201597889106214252009-04-27T14:28:00.000-05:002009-04-27T14:28:00.000-05:00It's ok with me if the students have their laptops...It's ok with me if the students have their laptops at my lecture, as some will in my next lecture in an hour. I like the idea that they can check whether they should believe what I say, look ahead to the material I'm covering next, or entertain themselves other ways if they already know the material.<br /><br />So long as those around them are not disturbed.<br /><br />It's my job to get their attention, the same way it is the Chair's job to keep my attention at faculty meetings.John Vidalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09871768524749705799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-1957011690666701262009-04-27T14:10:00.000-05:002009-04-27T14:10:00.000-05:00Timely post, I was at two conferences this weekend...Timely post, I was at two conferences this weekend, and one had wifi available everywhere (MIT Stata center). For the first time I took all my notes entirely electronically using evernote, and often looked up website/product as they are mentioned during the presentation. It was extremely productive.<br /><br />I believe good etiquette is good etiquette. Do not distract the speaker nor your fellow attendees is the right thing to do. People usually can tell if you are taking notes or doing other things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-37351074702006896072009-04-27T13:54:00.000-05:002009-04-27T13:54:00.000-05:00I agree with the anonymous post regarding how bad ...I agree with the anonymous post regarding how bad knitting looks like. I recently substituted a colleague in a graduate level class with ~10 students and one of the female Ph.D. students didn't stop knitting for the whole class. I was really upset, but didn't say anything because it was not my class. However, the most surprising aspect of the story was that she seemed pretty engaged, asked questions, and participated of discussions. All this while knitting just a few meters from me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-82257390541945591102009-04-27T13:37:00.000-05:002009-04-27T13:37:00.000-05:00So I sure hope that anyone who thinks it's okay to...So I sure hope that anyone who thinks it's okay to dink around on a laptop during a boring talk does not then get all upset at students who do the same thing in the classroom. It's rude as hell! <br /><br />I once was at a fascinating talk (really -- it was about sex), sitting next to a professor who had forced his students to attend the talk for their edification and education. He banged on his laptop the entire time, very fast, very hard, writing a paper. Tappitytappitytaptaptap. Pissed me off -- he forced his students to come to something he had no intention of hearing himself, and *then* he did something that distracted the people within a ten-foot radius.<br /><br />I totally agree with Rosie Redfield.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-1811318397312547702009-04-27T13:34:00.001-05:002009-04-27T13:34:00.001-05:00I always sit at the back near a door so that I can...I always sit at the back near a door so that I can leave if I am not interested. I just somehow feel it is rude for me to use my laptop while someone is presenting. If I have to take notes I prefer to do it by hand...I remember what I've written more efficiently if I actually undertake the physical act of putting pen to paper.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11303899626755722606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-49599320180139498772009-04-27T13:34:00.000-05:002009-04-27T13:34:00.000-05:00How about playing knitting games online?How about playing knitting games online?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-15642983112530353852009-04-27T12:54:00.000-05:002009-04-27T12:54:00.000-05:00Anon at 10:18 -- that's funny, I always like to se...Anon at 10:18 -- that's funny, I always like to see women knitting during talks. It seems empowering somehow. As if to say: there's no contradiction between high-powered intellectual activities and traditional women's activities. I would LOVE to see a man knitting during a talk!amynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-3545657874775798022009-04-27T12:53:00.000-05:002009-04-27T12:53:00.000-05:00Activities unrelated to the seminar can be done mu...Activities unrelated to the seminar can be done much more gracefully on paper. Stare thoughtfully in the direction of the screen, add another item to the shopping list, stare thoughtfully at the screen....Rosie Redfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06807912674127645263noreply@blogger.com