After the multiple disruptions in class this past Thursday I thought it was time I actually look into this a little more. As young college students we all have the tendency to over-talk when surrounded by our friends. Maybe you only see them during this class or you just can’t help but make comments after the teacher says anything. Either way, there has to be something that keeps telling us it is okay to continually talk over someone else. I’m sure that this talking habit is not just a factor while in class it probably has a lot to do with the way that they behave in their daily lives.
Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and professor at M.I.T recently wrote a book about the ways that we depend on communication to make us feel in touch with everyone at one time. In a short article for the New York Times, Sherry explains some of the findings that she talks about in her book. She explains that technology has given us the power to feel like we are together with many people even when we are alone, calling it the “alone together” feeling. With a device that fits in our hands we are able to move in and out of difference worlds and stay connected with people thousands of miles away. Making us want to have this luxury in our real lives as well. She gives a great example that I think really applies to our classroom issue. In a business environment there might be 4 meetings you have to go to in any given day but within these meetings there’s only a few things you really want or need to hear about. So what is to stop you from pulling out your phone, doing other work on your laptop or just leaving them room whenever the other meaningless topics are going on?
We crave this control that we conveniently have with our smart phones to go in and out of the conversation or class discussion in this case. So while students are sitting in class and we are going over a topic that they might not find as interesting, they check themselves out. Conveniently, instead of turning to their smart phones to talk to their friends, their friends must already be in this class which creates a lot of extra noise.
I’m not sure whether people to it subconsciously or if they just don’t mind disturbing others as long as they can have their own conversation but either way I find it pretty rude. I think that the article above makes some good points that could possibly be factors into why people find it okay to behave this way although she could be wrong. There is a laundry list of third party factors that we have no way of detecting. Is there an emergency you need to tell someone about, are you confused or do you genuinely just not care? Doing some sort of study specifically with our class and the seating arrangements would be really interesting to see if the new environment constitutes different behavior over time. I’m curious to hear what other people have to say about this!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all
This is definitely a relevant topic. The talking in class is really detrimental to the class. A study within our class would definitely have a chance to provide some interesting results. If people were randomly assigned different seats every class, would the back right corner always be the most talkative area? I think that may be the case, because it seems so far away from the rest of the class, while in the back left there are Andrew’s assistants and the projector room, making those seats feel closer.
You also mention how we are so addicted to our technology, and I was actually thinking of writing a blog about why we are so connected and attached to social media. As I said before in my previous comment, we have an instinct to belong. And our society today depends on our phones to stay connected. I know a couple of my friends are struggling with paying their smartphone bill, but would rather pay that bill with every penny they have, rather then feel left out and lose connection to society. No one likes to feel left out.
I myself also find the constant chatter of the classroom to be disruptive and distracting. i myself am not completely innocent in a way because sometimes I do find myself on my phone. I’m not positive the reason but I guess I’m just easily distracted. There can be a long list of reasons the talking in the room goes on but I just wish for it stop. I think it is unfair and just simply unnecessary.
I would have never thought someone would blog about this, but this topic is just so relevant. As I was reading this, I thought of reasons as to why people do talk in class. It ranges from a number of reasons such as asking a question, commenting on the discussion, or maybe it’s simply out of boredom. Also, we as humans, have a primal instinct to feel wanted and to belong. Maybe talking in class is just one’s way of acting upon that instinct.