Georgetown Law Prof David D. Cole explains in a Washington Post op-ed, "Laptops v. Learning," why he bans student use of laptops in class:
[M]y first-year students were a bit surprised when I announced at the first class this year that laptops were banned from my classroom. I did this for two reasons, I explained.
Note-taking on a laptop encourages verbatim transcription. The note-taker tends to go into stenographic mode and no longer processes information in a way that is conducive to the give and take of classroom discussion. Because taking notes the old-fashioned way, by hand, is so much slower, one actually has to listen, think and prioritize the most important themes.
In addition, laptops create temptation to surf the Web, check e-mail, shop for shoes or instant-message friends. That’s not only distracting to the student who is checking Red Sox statistics but for all those who see him, and many others, doing something besides being involved in class. Together, the stenographic mode and Web surfing make for a much less engaged classroom, and that affects all students (not to mention me). …
How does banning laptops work in practice? My own sense has been that my class is much more engaged than recent past classes. I’m biased, I know. So I conducted an anonymous survey of my students after about six weeks — by computer, of course. The results were striking. About 80% reported that they are more engaged in class discussion when they are laptop-free. Seventy percent said that, on balance, they liked the no-laptop policy. And perhaps most surprising, 95% admitted that they use their laptops in class for "purposes other than taking notes, such as surfing the Web, checking e-mail, instant messaging and the like." Ninety-eight percent reported seeing fellow students do the same.
(Hat Tip: Jonathan Adler.) Prior TaxProf Blog coverage below the fold:
- Still More on the Law School Laptop Wars (7/18/06)
- More on the Law School Laptop Wars (6/29/06)
- The War Over Student Use of Laptops and the Internet in Class (6/12/06)
- More Professors Ban Laptops in Class (5/3/06)
- Harvard Law School Debates Use of Computers and Internet in the Classroom (4/12/06)
- Law Prof Under Fire for Banning Laptops in Class (3/22/05)
- The Laptop Backlash (10/15/05)
