{"id":131215,"date":"2026-03-06T12:26:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/131215\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:26:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:26:27","slug":"the-fight-for-focus-the-lafayette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/131215\/","title":{"rendered":"The fight for focus \u2013 The Lafayette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Some Lafayette College professors have implemented a no-laptop policy. (Photo by Selma O\u2019Malley<\/a>)<\/p>\n

You\u2019re on your laptop in your 8 a.m. class, trying to take notes and resist the temptation to switch tabs to check your spot in the Ticketmaster queue. But the person on your right has been shopping for a formal dress. The person on your left is looking at stocks. In front of you, you can only see screens filled with games and social media.<\/p>\n

In an age of ubiquitous technology and artificial intelligence, Lafayette College\u2019s students and professors are navigating the best ways to teach and learn. While the next generation of students has a reputation for short attention spans, professors expressed understanding with the constant presence of technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a whole world in there,\u201d said Julia Nicodemus, an engineering studies professor. \u201cIt\u2019s a very distracting world, and it\u2019s easy to get sucked into if you haven\u2019t put it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some professors have gone Luddite in the classroom as a remedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quality of discussion has been so much better since I forced everybody to just put phones and computers away,\u201d neuroscience professor Henry Hallock said.<\/p>\n

Economics professor Michael Carter said that he has a \u201cno laptops\u201d policy, citing a study that associates laptop use in the classroom with a GPA decline. He cited his in-class oral exams that mimic and prepare students for an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we\u2019re moving into this world of AI, there\u2019s a little bit of the question of \u2018What is college doing for us?\u2019\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n

To cope with AI use and constant distractions, many professors have adjusted their assignment and grading systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that what is being eroded is the opportunity to focus on things that might have delayed gratification or might take longer or might feel more challenging,\u201d Hallock said about the student use of AI.<\/p>\n

Theater professor Courtney Ryan uses an effort-based grading system for students \u201cto get them to continue to buy into the idea of creating original ideas and art themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan doesn\u2019t allow AI use in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a writing and art class, and we have this privilege and this space to create art and ideas together and we don\u2019t want to rob ourselves of that opportunity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what a liberal arts college can do is teach us how to think and teach us how to learn, teach us how to access new information, connect things,\u201d Nicodemus said.<\/p>\n

History professor Paul Barclay said that he was able to focus better when he was a student because before technology, \u201cI didn\u2019t have options.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Many faculty find classroom use of potentially distracting technology to be unavoidable. (Photo by Elisabeth Seidel<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when I\u2019m talking to my students, I\u2019ll say, look, I would go buy a record at the record store, put it on a turntable and listen to the whole thing, and then listen to it again, and call my friends, and we would listen to it again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Computer science professor Christian Lopez Benscome said that due to the \u201ctechnical\u201d nature of many of his classes, students have their computers \u201cconstantly open to work on activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom time to time, I say, \u2018OK, close your computers so we can discuss and get sharing,\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In the absence of \u201cspending five years in the woods, just staring at trees,\u201d or moving to \u201ca monastery and just focusing on making pebble art,\u201d Hallock suggested students work on improving their attention span by putting themselves into situations where they can think deeply.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, to me, that makes logical sense,\u201d Hallock continued. \u201cIt\u2019s the opposite of the thing that shortens your attention span, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the challenges presented by technology distracting students and tempting them to take shortcuts or cheat, professors remain undeterred.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep evolving to meet the moment,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n

Sara Feinseth \u201827 and Elisabeth Seidel \u201826 contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some Lafayette College professors have implemented a no-laptop policy. (Photo by Selma O\u2019Malley) You\u2019re on your laptop in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-131215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}