Y2K Pedagogy

What is Y2K Pedagogy?

Y2K pedagogy limits students' access to technology. 

The goal is to improve students' abilities to read slowly, think independently and to write without artificial assistance. 

I hope this approach will enable students to experience philosophy as a way of life. 

This approach is called Y2K pedagogy because it is essentially taking the classroom back to the level of technology that was available at the turn of the century: 

Reading

• Students will read from coursepacks. 

Learning 

• Phones and laptops are not permitted in class. 

• Students must place their phones in the phone bank when they come to class. 

• Students must attend office hours in person at least twice during the semester. 

• Notetaking is not required for class, or if it is, there will be a peer note-taker who will photocopy the notes. Review sessiosn will be recorded. 

Writing

•  Students will write their papers, exams, and all weekly assignments by hand. 

• Students are not permitted to use AI, including Grammarly, co-pilot, or any other robot assistant.  

• All paper drafts will be graded in person. 

Beyond the Classroom 

• • Students will apply philosophical ideas to their everyday lives. 

• Students will join study groups to talk about the readings. 

• Instead of email, verbal communication is encouraged. Students are encouraged to attend drop-in office hours to check on grades or to talk about the ideas from class. 

• To discuss the essay, students can sign up for an appointment, using a sign up sheet on the professor's door. 

• Students are invited to join their professor and classmates once a week at an on-campus cafe to talk about philosophical ideas. 

• We will have a class dinner at the professor's house to celebrate the semester. 

 Y2K Pedagogy FAQs

Why Y2K?  

• This is my last-ditch attempt to liberate us all from phones and robots. 

Why are we using printed articles instead of Perusall? 

• I no longer think the benefits of using Perusall outweigh the costs of digital reading. Reading comprehension is generally worse for digital reading, due to notifications and the distractions of the internet. The social annotation features of Perusall used to outweigh these costs, but nowadays some people use AI to write their Perusall comments. 

Why are we writing our weekly assignments by hand? 

• Writing by hand slows down the thinking process, encouraging deeper reflection on the readings and the assignment. It also discourages the use of AI. 

What if my handwriting is truly illegible and/or my spelling is awful? 

• Please make an effort to write legibly. This may mean that you need to take longer to write your assignments. If I have any questions about your handwriting I will let you know! I do not care about spelling or grammar as long as you are able to communicate your ideas in writing. 

What if I have a disability accommodation that says I can't write by hand? 

• It depends on the nature of the accommodation. 

  • Note-taking accommodations are not necessary in my classes because the notes are provided. 

  • If the office of disability services judges that you cannot write the weekly assignments or exams by hand then you must arrange a supervised time to write each assignment on a laptop, with a lockdown browser, under supervision at the testing center. You will also need to make similar arrangements for both midterms and the final exam. 

Why do you do in-person grading? 

• By grading in person, we can talk through your paper. I can check for understanding and I can make sure that you understand all the feedback. 

Why don't you let students use AI? 

• For one thing, I'm very interested in what my students think and I'm not at all interested in what a robot thinks. For another thing, part of my job is to improve my students' writing abilities. For me to do this, they need to write their papers. These classes also fulfill the writing gen ed requirement, but I cannot certify that my students can write if I cannot verify that my students actually wrote their own papers. 

Why do you discourage email? 

• I want my students to work to solve problems on their own and I worry that the use of email discourages self-efficacy and problem-solving. 

• I also want to encourage students to ask questions in class and/or stop by in person. 

Aren't you just an anti-technology old person who doesn't get that robots are the future? 

• I guess so!