@residue

I have several reasons as to why banning mobile phones at UNIVERSITY would be a bad idea and should never happen. However let me fully recover from being speechless - the alcoholics anonymous thing coupled with the phones in exams thing caught me by surprise. Exams are an individual test of the skill of a person using only their brain and whatever limited resources you provide, it has no place in this discussion and if you're an educator, you should know that. Let's not waste time with nonsense like that or frivolous analogies.

So, mobile phones are RIGHTLY removed from exams and they ask people not to use them in lectures because if you're making noise, or shining a bright light sometimes, it is distracting to your peers and the lecturer (which impacts on other students); one's own careless mobile phone usage hinders the learning of other students. Careful use of the internet on my mobile phone in physics lectures really helps me understand things at times - not to mention reminders and schedules for assessed work or reading.

At a university you are an adult, you've volunteered to attend, it isn't a school any more. Lecturers are not teachers and teachers are not lecturers; there is a world of difference. The lecturers at my university would certainly agree that it is not their job to make you learn, whilst school teachers have the harder job in that they in a way DO. Uni students are already interested by dint of asking to be there, school students are forced there by law and attend all subjects, not their favoured one.

Not to mention that university policies are DICTATED by students. The universities know that student satisfaction is what can make or break a university's reputation - especially for newer universities (ie. not historic establishments). I'm a student liaison for my course, meaning i go to question and feedback sessions from the students to the lecturers. One thing that gets lecturers listening is when you imply that a lot of students have a bad opinion about something. We've had many policies changed in the first year which has improved our ability to learn and solved many problems. Why do they care? Because if student reviews are bad, they slip in rankings, their uni appears less desirable. Almost all students would hate a policy of mobile phone bans, so you can see how it would go down.

"I know best how to teach students" is an old fashioned and i would even say negligent line to tow. I do not intend that to be an insult, i've tried to be quite polite here and have a civil discussion but i believe this is true based on my experiences. One of the key focuses of our lecturers is that lectures can and should be tailored to best deliver the course content to those present, that is why our lecturers offer us key choices and respond to our feedback, and i believe that is why our university's physics department is growing and becoming world renowned. I think that in all walks of life, it is wise to always be open to adjustments or improvements, and to never ever think that you have finished learning.

This is not important but i feel i should offer this information - i have a teaching family (30+ years in teaching, all of them), school teachers but no uni lecturers. My opinions on schools comes from my life with them and my uni opinions comes from my involvement with my uni. I hope it is at least an "educated" opinion, no pun intended.

/walloftext, sorry, but i did try to present my ideas and opinions well for you.

I'd like to see more of this kind of vid. His style of delivery allows easy digestion of lots of compelling info. If only you could attend uni lectures like that.