I saw an interesting news article on one of the tech blog sites today, and it said that a growing trend amoung college professors was to ban laptops from the classroom because they were distracting the students from their lessons. I for one agree with this statement. I take my laptop to class, and there is wi-fi coverage in the classroom, and I find myself browsing 4ch etc while I am supposed to be listening. So what is your take on it? Article Below




"In yet another sign that Luddism is alive and well in academia (remember Lakehead University's silly WiFi ban?), the Associated Press has picked up on a disturbing "trend" of professors banning laptops in their classrooms. Unlike the WiFi brouhaha, which revolved around fears that the wireless signals might be dangerous, keeping laptops out of the lecture hall is seen as a way of forcing students to pay attention. The AP article cites several law school professors who have enacted the ban, including one whose inspiration came while serving as an expert witness in a trial, when he realized the court stenographer wasn't absorbing any of the content that he/she was transcribing. If you ask us, not only does this policy fail to address the root of a problem -- hey Prof, try making your classes more interesting if you want people to pay attention -- but considering what students are paying for a higher education these days, they should be allowed to lug a mainframe and three monitors to class if that's how they like to get their learnin' done."

One in my class use one and he just use it for typing down stuff of what the teacher says and write on the board. But after he just have fun with it because its bit hard to get hold of a computer and he does keep all the work in it. So if you can handle it you should be allowed to use it.

Having wireless can be bad if the other people don't have a firewall and password on their computer.

I am all for the idea of using laptops in the classroom. I don't know about you guys, but I find it a lot easier (and faster) to type than to write things out with the ol' pencil or pen and teachers could learn to incorportate them into class activities. If a student doesn't have the self-control to be doing what they're supposed to, then that's their problem and they should have to face the consequences for it -- and hopefully learn from them. Having laptops manditory would be really pricy though...and getting them damaged or stolen would probably become a problem.

It's a pretty common phenomenon in my school too...this whole idea of bringing laptops & using them in class. The way i see it there are a few implications involved in using laptops in class:

Firstly some of them use laptops in class to use off their latest i-Book or whatnot. When I first went to my current school it seemed like some fashion status quo of sorts to be seen either carrying a laptop or using one in class. As to what they really do on their laptops while lessons are being conducted is anyone's guess, but it is an intriguing seeing how students flip open their laptops the moment the teacher opens his/her mouth to speak. Although I don't use a laptop myself i can almost feel that palpable sense of pride welling amngst those who own white plastic-looking i-Books.

Secondly as mentioned what they do on their laptops during class is anyone's guess. There was once I saw this student in front of me watching BLEACH fansubs on her laptop while the teacher was talking in the background! Talk about attentiveness in class... Also i find the excuse that people require laptops so they can type their notes in class a weak one. I mean, doesn't anyone find the idea of transcribing what the teacher says onto their laptops tedious? Especially when the notes require you to draw diagrams, make linking arrows or scribble on the margins, how are you supposed to do that if you process your notes entirely on a word-processor? Maybe I am no computer-whiz when it comes to stuff like that, haha.

Lastly lessons and wi-fi/wireless access are a bad combination. Why? This is because there is a high tendency students would use their laptops to surf the Net, check emails, or worse still: conduct Instant Messaging (IM) conversations in the classroom! It's hilarious to imagine how one student with a laptop would say to his fellow classmate online even though they maybe siting next to each other:

Student A says:
hey...i dunno wat he is saying...do u?

Student B says:
i oso dunno...hey! cute emoticon! lol

So in closing, my stand towards using laptops in class is a straight NO NO.

When I take my laptop to class my microphone is always on and my speech to text program's running, so I completely identify with the aspect of goofing off in class,it's so much easier than transcribing, but I also understand that when I do this, something's missing as the information passes through the mic and not through my brain when it's transcribed, so you lose something. but it's university, you get what you put into it. there will always be people who go to college solely to party, but like I learned...it's very easy to fail if you have that attitude. heck, someone even set up CSS games during class and they'd play while the lecture was going on. ~_~

Ok, the funny thing about laptops at my school.

We had 2 carts full of laptops.
Each cart has about 30 laptops.
We got one cart and a projector($2500) stolen.
CSI came in and shit; never caught the felon.
about 2 months later, just after the school teacher meeting
decided to make storage securities tighter,
another cart and two projectors were stolen.
Now we have no laptops and only one projector left at school.
They've introduced fingerprint lock at storage door lol
idiots...

IMO, bringing laptops in classrooms are not bad. Its the students who can't control their hands and like to surf more than listening to their professors are bad. Sure its gonna get a little boring when you listen to the professor too much but we are in a structure that requires us to learn and we have the right to bring anything that could help us to learn and not to distract us from studying. I don't bring laptops in class because wi-fis are not yet invented in our country (Philippines) and so my alternate course of action is to sleep during classes and still got a passing grade. I started in first year high school and right now I'm still doing it. I'm in second year college by the way.

From one standpoint I could say that the professors are just pompous and can't stand the idea that the students are not hanging on their every PhD-endowed word, so they ban laptops because they only think it's taking away the student's attention... On the other hand, I think I at least would find it annoying to hear one of my fellow classmates typing away when I'm trying to listen. I think if the subject and the atmosphere in the classroom lend itself better to laptop note taking, then go for it. It doesn't matter to me if they choose to play WoW during class, as long as the sound is turned off so it doesn't distract me from learning, they can do whatever they want.

I use my laptop in class all the time. For one thing, it's required in my biology class. It's also one of the only ways I can stay awake in my other ones. If professors don't want students to use their laptops in the classroom, they should stop using PowerPoint as a crutch. It's one of the most common programs in my college, because the professors are too lazy too write notes. Before banning laptops from classrooms, they should stop using sleep inducing programs like PowerPoint, and stop posting notes online for later use. Doing that will mean that people will have to pay attention in class, and the whole issue will not even be a problem. If someone decides to play games during class, that is their decision. We're all in college, we should be able to decide whether or not it is more important to play a game in class or pay attention to what the professor is trying to teach us.

Personally I find that laptops do take attention from what is supposed to be happening in the classroom. At the college level it doesn't really matter, since most professors don't care if you pass or fail, so they allow it. So I find it inspiring that someone has finally taken a stance on the issue.

I think laptops in the classroom is a great idea, but only if they were sanctioned through the school. That way there isn't much on there to distract the students from learning, but make it easier for them to take notes and learn how to type fairly well without looking down at the keyboard.

So if laptops are banned the students personal laptops are the ones that should be done away with, so they don't have all their distractions at hand in the classroom.

I do see the point of laptops being a source of distraction. The students might just start browsing the internet or doing something else.

However I think that it's way easier and more convenient to be able to do work on a laptop, but we're not allowed to use laptops in school over here>.<
I for one type much faster than I write, so writing down notes and stuff would be much easier to do.

My school has a computer laboratory so we really don't bring in laptops, unless we really need to use them [for programs and stuff.]

Besides, bringing in laptops in my school aren't allowed unless you have permission from a teacher or something.

I type my notes on the laptop in class, yes I do browse sometimes or go on aim but I always get the gist of the lecture. Why should the professor care if Im distracted or not? Shouldnt it just be my loss if I don't want to pay attention 100% of the time? Its college, I don't need a babysitter.

Well I would say it depends on the class and u. I have classes where a laptop is pretty much pointless, since everything is posted online. As well as that attendance is not required for most of my classes, so bringing a laptop and goofing off is about the same as not going in the first place. But the thing is whether I have a laptop with me or not, I still don't listen when I'm not interested. And of course it all depends on the person. People like me, who have a million and one things that I can do when I have a laptop with me will most likely go and do something else than pay attention to class. But if your not like that, then a laptop is very much sutable for class. I agree that banning laptop isn't going to make things any better for the student. I do other things like folding paper instead. So if a professor wanted my full attention all the time, hes going to have to tie me to the chair and tape my eyes open. I'll probably daydream then... so there is no stopping it.