“Media and Information professor Rabindra Ratan knows that in a big lecture, students get distracted and fall asleep. To keep his students engaged and awake, he skateboards around the class. The potential that he could wipe out at any moment is what he says keeps the students’ attention. “It’s fun,” Ratan said. “It keeps their attention and it keeps me from getting bored too. The students watch me to make sure they don’t miss when I fall.”
Freestyling with a student in class to try to wake them up
(2nd) State News article about my skateboard/teaching antics
Professor “Robby” Ratan: the man behind the skateboard
Attending 8 a.m. lectures can be tough, especially if it’s a topic that you’re not very interested in. However, assistant professor Rabindra “Robby” Ratan, who teaches Intro to Media and Info Tech 101 in Wells Hall has changed the game when it comes to teaching his 8 a.m. lecture, simply by skateboarding.
“I started to stand on my board while I was teaching, probably in 2014,” assistant professor Ratan said. “I realized it made me have more fun while I was teaching.”
Ratan’s passion for skateboarding was sparked one evening while walking with his family on the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, where he was working on getting his doctorate degree.