I am a 53-year-old who just finished one of those Executive Masters in Public Administration things that are all the rage nowadays. Eighteen years ago, I got a Masters in Computer Science, got my MD 26 years ago, and my BS 31 years ago. So, I’ve been there as a student all along the way.
I was glued to my laptop during lectures this last time, where I was not for the other degrees. It was not, actually, for taking notes because I have an idiosyncratic way of integrating mnemonics into my notes.
Instead, I used the laptop to look up data related to the lecture as it was going on. For instance, in one lecture on risk management, the speaker referred to a Supreme Court finding, but quoted a small snippet of the opinion. I quickly looked up the opinion and read the context as the lecture continued.
I didn’t consider that to be inconsiderate. Instead, to me, it meant that I was being *more* interactive with the lecture than sitting there writing down notes alone would have allowed.
Did I also read an email or two? Certainly — at my level it’s impossible to be completely incommunicado. However, that was a small part of what I was doing.
