Banning Laptops in the Classroom

That's the title of a recent entry at PrawfsBlog, a legal blog, law students using laptops in the classroom.  LINK

A good friend who teaches at a great east coast law school recently told me she had her very best class this year. She has been teaching law students for many years and always had good evaluations, but had felt that it was difficult to keep second and third year students engaged in her upper level elective. This year, she decided laptops had a great deal to do with her students distractions. She made them the following offer – they would begin the semester with two weeks of a no-laptop policy. She would in turn post her teaching notes on TWEN. After the first two weeks, the students would take an anonymous vote on whether the no-laptop policy should remain for the rest of the semester. The results: the students loved it. They found themselves more engaged, more involved in the class discussions, and the course evaluations were the best of all years. My friend told me however she would be worried about trying out this classroom policy as a non-tenured new prawf, because there are some students who were, at least initially, resistant.

My understanding is that in business schools there is a trend of banning laptops. According to the Chicago Tribune, at the University of Michigan Law School, a computer system has been installed to block students accessing the Internet during their scheduled class times.

In my own classes, I've noticed some students who use laptops to take notes, but I've also seen other students instant messaging classmates.  I'm interested in engaging my students and fear that laptops can be a distraction  that interferes with student participation.

Comments

[queenannelace]

At the College of William and Mary, they will be requiring all undergraduate students to have laptops. Students may bring their own or buy one through the college.

Yes, I have observe students in my doctoral classes IM and multi-tasking other items while attending lectures. I think professors need to be upfront with this behavior just like they currently do with cellphones. We need to remind folks about courtesy.