The Chronicle of Higher Education reports rehashes today:

In today’s college classroom, it seems that more students have laptops than don’t. In many lecture halls, professors see several of their students typing away all class long. But some professors have to wonder: how many of them are taking notes, and how many of them are checking Facebook.

Welcome to the 21st century 20th century lecture class. In 1984, when I started my undergraduate career at Abilene Christian University, we didn’t have laptop, notebook, or netbook computers just yet, never mind smaller mobile computing devices like iPhones or even plain vanilla cell phones. But we had plenty of low-tech ways to “check out” of the lecture, such as reading newspapers, doing homework for other classes, doodling, having whispered conversations with our classmates, daydreaming, sleeping, or checking out the pretty girls sitting nearby. Technology increases the range of options for how students check out of class, but the phenomenon well predates the technology.

The Chronicle notes that some professors try to inhibit laptop use through various policy statements. In my opinion, enforced Ludditism does nothing but flex the professor’s power muscles. “Don’t use laptops in class.” “Why, Professor?” “Because I want you to pay attention to what I’m saying.” Well, professor, how about working harder to make what you’re saying so compelling that students won’t want to follow their Twitter stream or monitor their eBay auctions during the hour or two that you spend with them two or three times a week? Better yet—I confess that I still have a long way to go to make this one a reality in my own classrooms—why don’t you say less, and have the students do more, perhaps using their computers?

The University of Dayton offers a set of “Best Practices for an e-Classroom,” which stands out in the Chronicle article because it is the only advice page that encourages professors to leverage student technology for educational goals rather than fighting student technology. (Surely many other institutions offer similar guidelines or suggestions, but Dayton’s was called out in the Chronicle report.) Gems include (my emphasis):

• “The key is to create active-learning opportunities, and not to resort to passive-learning methods.”
• “Make sure that you are well-versed with the software that you are going to use in the classroom.”
• “Notebooks are well-suited to recording the activities of team projects in-class. Faculty unfamiliar teaching through the use of teams, may want to first become familiar with the best practices associated with assigning and managing students in groups. Numerous books and articles have been written on this subject.”
• “By turning to a more active-learning approach, faculty must be aware of the need to increase student-student and student-teacher interactions. Although technology can be a part of this exchange, many faculty are either unfamiliar or uncomfortable with increased discussion in the classroom. Excellent resources are found on the Web and a number of books have been written on this subject.”
• “The amount of time used in e-classrooms for lecturing is most likely going to be less than in traditional classrooms. This creates a need for knowledge to be shared with the student by some means other than lecture.”
• “Take time-out to reflect on your own progress in creating a meaningful learning experience. The process of any educational transformation can be slow and frequently needs additional changes where warranted. Sharing your findings with colleagues and seeking their input is one of the best means of making further changes that improve your teaching style.”

As I confessed above the list, I still have a long way to go, though I’m hard at work on improving my teaching in these areas. Some things I’ve already tried include:

• Using Poll Everywhere to collect student responses to polls and free-response questions. Students can respond via text message (SMS), web interface, or tweet.
• Distributing handouts as PDF documents.
• Distributing templates for “handins” via Google Docs.
• Conducting class activities that require students to use online resources in real-time. For example, “Use Google Images to search ‘Ezekiel vision.’ Choose one image in which an artist tries to visually depict Ezekiel’s vision of ‘the glory of the Lord.’ Study the textual description and the image for five minutes. Then send me an e-mail in which you assess how well or poorly the artist did at representing the vision.” Or, “Browse to bible.oremus.org, scroll down to the ‘word or phrase’ search box, and search for ‘covenant with’ …”
• Giving students “If you get bored” assignments. For example: “If you get bored during today’s class, Google ‘Ezekiel vision UFO.’”
• Use students as fact checkers. “Somebody get on Oremus and remind me of which verse says …”

I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface. How do you put mobile computing devices to good use in the classroom? Please—no hand-wringing or “I don’t allow laptops in my class” comments. I want constructive suggestions, not fussing about “kids these days.”