[apdinin]

This article seems more reflective of a generational technology gap than an actual loss of student interest in building relationships with professors. The author doesn't seem to want to bother leveraging all the wonderful tools currently available to interact digitally with students beyond the walls of a classroom or office.

I give my students my phone number and encourage texting. I find that sending Facebook messages usually gets a quicker response than emails. And, in lieu of office hours, I prefer Google Hangouts so we can be more flexible with meeting times. (Yes... I've had many "office hour" sessions at 11:00 at night!)

Contrary to what this article asserts, I've found that digital technologies bring me closer to my students. Using tools like Facebook Groups, Google Docs, and whatever course forum software the school is operating on at the time, I get to expand the classroom well beyond our 2.5 hours per week and create a sort of 24/7 learning environment.

I wish I could have had those kinds of opportunities as an undergrad.

[Perceval]

> an actual loss of student interest in building relationships with professors

Relationships are built in person, except for getting "married" on EverQuest when you're 15.

> I give my students my phone number and encourage texting.

That's a disaster waiting to happen.

> …sending Facebook messages…

I hope to God you've got separate profiles for your personal life and your professorial identity. And being connected to their personal profiles? Another disaster waiting to happen.

> I get to expand the classroom well beyond our 2.5 hours per week and create a sort of 24/7 learning environment.

Mostly what you've done is destroyed any ability for you to have a life and do your own research. Reminds me of the jibe that people used to give to Linux enthusiasts, "Linux is only free if your time is worthless." You've abrogated any expectation that your students respect your time—you're on-call 24/7.

[acadien]

You don't have to respond to a text immediately, you don't have answer a phone call. Students can contact you all they want and you can simply ignore them when necessary.

Many students work part or full time jobs. Some of them have kids of their own so stagnant office hours will prevent many of them from contacting their instructors at all. Why not make use of the modern tools everyone else is using to communicate? Why lock yourself away in an office that no one will find?

[iolothebard]

Yeah, instead you had to get up off your ass and do some leg work. So you had to determine whether it was worth your time and the professor's time to do so, instead of a quick and easy "how do I do this work even though I've put in no effort to figure it out for myself".

Seemingly there is significant more hand holding of students and they all expect an A because simply showing up in high school meant they'd get an A. The entitlement is different now as well.

It's amazing how far my school in particular has fallen in reality while in perception (god awful rankings) have them higher than ever. It's the typical perception is more important than reality. However, this is good for students, because this is exactly my experience in the "real world" as well.

I wouldn't trade my 90s undergrad for the crap kids are getting today. And I thought it was bad then. Hindsight makes me sad for the meager amount of actual learning going on today.

[apdinin]

I can obviously only speak for my students in terms of willingness to do legwork, but I don't find this to be the case at all. And just because they ask me something in an email that they could figure out themselves, I don't necessarily have to give them the answer.

The opposite is usually the case. I prefer to use their hastily sent digital questions as teaching opportunities -- opportunities I wouldn't have had if not for the ease with which they can engage with me. For example, I often respond to questions that need to be researched elsewhere by reminding students they have Google, as well as world class libraries.

Like any profession, different professors approach their work in different ways. How a professor chooses to engages with his or her students isn't the fault of students. I don't see much value in metaphorically shaking my fist and lamenting "What's the matter with kids these days? They're overly entitled! How dare they expect success!"

I, like most professors, am in control of the education I provide. That's my favorite part about being a professor. (It's definitely not the salary...)

[kuschku]

Luckily, at my uni this is not the case - obviously visible when on average, 70% fail the first time. In almost every class. (Math usually worse, functional programming usually better).

And even though professors and their assistants answer emails, you have to write a real email - which is something that makes you think more about it than just being able to send a FB message.

[j2kun]

Google groups is a godsend. Students post a question, and more often than not other students answer it before you can, and either way the question is publicly answered for everyone to see and refer to later.

Far better than an idolized professor is a community of students who can collaborate and feed off each other with your guidance.