The student of 2010

ANAKEPHALAIOSIS.

I mean a lecturer writes that on the board and goes on using it as if he was saying some simple term, like butter.

Like the act of writing it down makes it suddenly understandable.

“the anak- what?.... oh the anakephalaiosis, of course, I didn’t know that’s how you pronounced it.”

Word doesn’t even think it’s a real word!

They must honestly think we have read something before the lecture, or know Latin and other dead languages. Hell, I don’t even know what the title of the study unit means.

It’s mostly our fault, I can understand that as university students we should be doing our own background reading. But The lecturer is to blame too.

Some of them must have forgotten what it was like to be a student.

It amazes me how lecturer’s can be so blind as to not realize that over half the class is not following. How they are fooled into thinking that everyone with a laptop open are shifting in their seat so much because it’s uncomfortable to hold a laptop and type, while all we’re really doing is trying to find the position where we get the best wifi.

I mean just now, this very second, I looked up and caught the lecturer’s eye and continued writing this blog entry! Seriously.

I look around.

The law student in front of me is playing solitaire, the theology student next to me is doodling aimlessly, the student behind me is not even pretending to listen, and there in front, the one student taking notes. The notes that will be shared with me come April… I hope. And of course, there’s me here, writing my blog.

Also, some lecturers can’t understand the concept of student sharing. We had a credit last semester who asked us to pick up a cd full of notes from the computer lab. Apparently only 5 students actually bought the thing and he was shocked, surprised and disappointed. A cd! You slide it into your laptop, copy the contents and pass the damn thing on down the row to the next student. And voila! 120 students all have notes from 5 cds.

Either today’s students are more intelligent on a street level, or the lecturer’s have not fully understood the technology of today.

To be fair, we grew up with the technology around us, while they are having to come to terms with it. Most of us remember sharing notes and making projects in our primary years. The whole tedious process of looking through encyclopedias and photocopying and passing on piles of papers. We were lucky enough to be able to leave that all behind with the spread of the internet and the introduction of computers in practically every home. We grew up with the technology, so we learnt how to use it as it was growing more complicated. But our lecturers, most of them at least, went through all their studies without a computer! Can you imagine typing out a thesis by typewriter!

So fair enough, they most probably don’t know what we are up to behind the fancy laptops. Our concerned faces and our fingers dancing across the keyboard make them think we’re taking notes and struggling to keep up. We are in fact, struggling to keep up with 6 conversations on msn while plowing an entire field in Farmville.

“Thank you for your attention”

*slaps forehead*

out