I'm pretty sure she wasn't refering to people in special circumstances such as your son. More on topic, if people want to pay attention, they will pay attention with or without a laptop. If people want to fool around in class, they will no matter what. Students don't need to go to class at all in most cases.

Your blog suggests that the use of laptops in school is a luxury. As a parent of a 1st year university student with a learning disability, the laptop is essential. In his case denying laptop use in the classroom is the equivalent of not letting a myopic student wear their glasses to class. My child has had a laptop in school since grade school. The use of the laptop allows him to achieve at an A average as opposed to B's and C's. Without it he wouldn't have finished grade school using traditional methods. He is unable to take notes or write at the speed of normal people- yet he looks like everyone else. He actually types notes as the lecture progesses. Touch typing is autonomic once it is learned and does not require frontal lobe capacity - where the learning takes place. It is more efficient than writing - which takes up frontal lobe capacity. As for that Prof from Western, he cannot ban laptops from his class if the person using them in class has special needs. It's a human rights violation.

As a student I find the prospect of banning laptops in lecture halls to be almost laughable. I myself also prefer a notepad or a class that uses overhead slides rather than powerpoints in order to get more thorough understanding of the material, but students, parents, and professors need to be realistic about technological trends. I'd argue there's not much use in trying to ban laptops because students can easily list off countless benefits to productivity in a generation that is increasingly skilled at technological multitasking. Professors that take offense to laptops only seem to show that they don't have an appreciation for technological benefits and are likely not as forward-thinking as students expect their professors to be. Being somewhat of a luddite myself I can appreciate anyone's technological resistance, but overall we should be realistic and focus on worthwhile initiatives rather than fruitless attempts to ban popular technology.

@ asdf: Yes, you're right of course. I wasn't referring to people in special circumstances. I also couldn't agree with you more about if people want to pay attention, they will pay attention with or without a laptop.

I can type a lot faster than I can write. If it helps me take better notes I should be able to do so. A lot of the students in one of my classes can't keep up with the professor because she lectures very fast and no one can write that fast.

If teachers want to ban laptops, then they should also ban teachers from putting notes online and stop professors from teaching by powerpoint.

I understand that people would like to use laptops, but the real distraction is for the people who are NOT using laptops and are trying to concentrate on the professor. Fast moving images on a computer screen (those students who are NOT taking notes) are a constant distraction when you're seated behind them. Nobody (well, nobody who can type) types slower then they write, so I can see that advantage, and honestly if the student keeps the word-processor open during the whole class there's not much of a problem, but switching between windows, playing facebook games and not using the computer to actually take notes (which happens a lot more often then one would suppose, at least at Concordia now) is inconsiderate and disrespectful to both the teacher and the class.

As a student, I've been incredibly irritated at laptops in the classroom for years now. Since my second year of college, I've had to sit at the front of the class just to avoid the constant distraction - because for every note-taker, there are 3-4 facebookers, if not gamers. I often wonder if they have any concept of how their actions affect everyone who sits behind them. Only now that I'm working on my MA do I find that students rarely use laptops in class, and that those who do are actually taking notes with them.

As for me, I tried taking notes with a laptop. Like the author's children, I find pen and paper to be much more effective for my actual retention of information.

I am a university professor. I am banning laptops in my classes beginning next September. I am tired of looking at and talking to a field of laptop backs. I am tired of students being absorbed in their computer screens rather than paying attention to what's happening in front of them. I am not doing this capriciously. I have kept track over several classes and my class records tell me that students who use a pen and paper do about a grade-point better. I speculate that this is because they are synthesizing information rather than just recording it.

Speaking as someone who suffered bad wrist injuries in a car accident some years ago, if it weren't for my laptop I wouldn't be able to keep up in class.

I actually have one prof who bans laptops from the class but has to make a special case or me and others with disabilities. But quite frankly, I'm not ok with that. Even if I didn't have this injury I would STILL want to use a laptop. I can take notes much faster than those who are scribbling, so I often get to finish taking down stuff others simply give up on. I have the option to record my lectures with the built in programs (MS Word on a Mac has a great function for that). And also, let's not forget the fundamental issue here. The professor is saying how I may or may not take notes.

There is a client relationship to the university dynamic. We are making a choice to go on and listen to professors in our educational pursuits, and we are paying for it. So if I want to take notes with a laptop instead of a pen and paper, that's my right.

Yes, there are students who will use the laptops to spend their time on facebook or play games or what ever... but if they want to sit in the chair and not learn anything... that's their right too. They're paying for the seat. What they do with it is their decision.

As for the laptop distracting others, I find this generally isn't the case. This is my 5th year of university and my 2nd degree and in all that time I've only had one student anywhere near me with annoying typing habits, as though he were attacking the keys.

If professors want to call out students for not paying attention, they may do so. I had one second year prof notice that two girls in front of me were checking out pictures rather than taking notes and he stopped mid lecture and asked if they cared to show him what was so interesting. Or at least more interesting than the lecture they were paying for (at about $500 for the course, for 3 hours a week, for 12 weeks they were paying about 13 or 14 dollars for the hour, which he pointed out) then he himself might be interested. They were embarrassed enough that I don't think they ever did it again in his class. And if they did, they certainly did it in a manner that was far more subtle.

You want to do that, fine. But the rest of us take notes how they want to take notes.

To J McLean, maybe you have kept meticulous records over the last several years and have averaged out the results and determined that those who use pen do better than those who use laptops. I'm willing to ignore, for now, the possibility that those with laptops in class who are serious about what they're doing are doing better than those using pen, while those with laptops who don't care aren't paying any attention at all and so are doing much, much worse (thus dragging down the average for that group). But could there be other factors? I can think of a list right off the top of my head... but I feel like I've wandered away from my point.

The point is, I don't care if you don't like talking to a field of laptop backs. Do you not notice those students making eye contact? I can't speak for all laptop users but I've been using the computer since a young age and my typing skills are such that I need not look at either the keyboard or the screen, which lets me follow the prof. Are you maybe over offended by the laptops that are present? And if you are... why should we care?

You're being paid to get up there discuss what you've devoted your time to becoming an expert in. Those students are your customers. Just provide the service they're paying you for and swallow your pride.

Why do university professors feel the need to demote themselves to the status of high school teachers? "no chewing gum, no hats, no laptops, sit up, pay attention!" The best professors I've had couldn't care less about what you're doing. They walk out in front of the class and they OWN the room. Their lectures are great, they use visuals only when needed (my favourite professors, and those that I have found to be the most interesting and effective as teachers don't bother using power point or any of those visuals at all), and they don't pay attention to their students unless they're asking a question, or are in the middle of a discussion with them. Nor should they. A professor worth listening to is above caring whether or not their students are paying attention. They know the important of what they're teaching, and they know that the students who listen will benefit and those who don't listen will fail, and they know they get paid either way. These professors also know the value in encouraging those who want to learn and want to better themselves rather than getting weighed down dealing with students who seem to be in university just for the sake of being in university.

High school teachers have to keep after kids and make them learn. University professors can simply fail the students who don't care. They've already paid to bring you in and for you to do your part, the rest is up to them. So let them sink or swim. If they want help, give it to them, otherwise you should be beyond this pettiness.

The only professors I know who seems to need the validation of knowing that they're being listened to are those professors who suck at their job and aren't even sure themselves that what they're teaching has any value or merit.

What DO you teach, exactly?

In my second year of university, I quit using paper altogether and stared taking notes on my laptop exclusively. There are several advantages to this, besides the "speed" factor which has already been mentioned. Typed notes are obviously much neater than written notes. I have very messy handwriting which only gets worse when I'm trying to keep up with a fast-paced lecture. I'm a very serious student, so I like to record pretty much every word that the professor says, and I couldn't do that without a laptop.

Keeping my lectures saved as word documents also helps me stay organized. I don't have to worry about losing papers or notebooks as long as I keep everything backed up on a USB drive.

Another bonus: saving paper. I went through an insane amount of paper during my first year, and as someone who is concerned about environmental issues, it just made sense to start taking notes on a laptop. In case you're wondering, I don't print the notes afterwards, just study straight from my screen. I can take my laptop with me and study anywhere, without having to haul a huge pile of notes around.

In short, using a laptop to take notes can be very effective. I find it's becoming very common in science courses, but less so in smaller humanities and social sciences classes. Personally, my average increased from 90 to 95 after I started using my laptop - probably a combination of being able to take more effective notes and having my notes neat and organized. If my professors were to ban laptops, I honestly don't think that I'd absorb as much information. As always, it really depends on the individual student. If you can't resist the urge to check your facebook every ten seconds, leave your macbook at home and stick to your looseleaf.

I am an instructor and tell my students that they can use laptops so long as they lower the screen. If they are taking notes, they don't need to look at it.

Like J. McLean, I find teaching to the backs of computer screens disheartening. When students are looking at me rather than a screen, there is a more dynamic and engaging classroom environment.

@Rachel: you go to a school that allows for a 95% average? Where IS that?

@Annother: What about those students who don't know proper typing skills?

Also, how big are these laptop screens that you can't see over them? or are you referring to the issue of teaching in a large auditorium?

Just ask your students to sit upright, I'm sure you'll see many more faces that way.

@Ongoing Student: A wee bit grumpy are we? Perhaps "petulant" is a better word. At any rate, I wanted to address one point in particular:
"There is a client relationship to the university dynamic. We are making a choice to go on and listen to professors in our educational pursuits, and we are paying for it. So if I want to take notes with a laptop instead of a pen and paper, that's my right."

Here's the real-world reality: The university offers a service, and you're buying it. If you don't like the service, you don't pout and whine about it, you go elsewhere. You don't have the "right" in the real world to make any one person or organization provide the particular service you want.

I teach at a community college and I would say 80% of the students using laptops in class are not using them for notes or any related to my class -the challenge is to keep them engaged in the topic while competing with their laptop, their cell phones, ipods, old fashion chatting, sleeping ,eating and general rudeness. I try to be more entertainingg, relevant and efficient as well as trying to limit all distractions.

Whetehr they know it or not - I want them to succeed -since some don't prepare for class, do their homework or study for tests (all of which I can't control) I can try and get them to make useful use of the time in class.

Interesting - I have also been blogging about this very issue: "Will We Have Confidence in the Next Generation of Experts" on www.pennythoughts.blog.ca

Frontline also ran a show last week about students being distracted by digital gadgets and Twitter, Facebook, etc.

A US essay writing company has started using my blog as a source which concerns me. Are kids "so" distracted that they aren't capable of learning to write their own essays and resort to buying them in order to get that degree?

When my students come in with notes from the centre for students with disabilities, I take that into consideration - they get to use their laptop and any other special things theyneed to make class work for them.

In general, though, I don't favour laptops in class. Why? Because it's a wall between you and the student. Because the students no longer interact with one another or with the professor, but bury themselves behind the screen. That's not helpful for me as an instructor, because it's really hard for me to see how everyone is doing and what they need to review, where we can move qauickly, etc.

Plus, it can be highly distracting to other students in the class, particularly in the case of students who are actually facebooking during class. Honestly, if you can't wait 50 minutes to text your friends, you shouldn't be in class.

That said, I don't get many student swith laptops and most are considerate enough to ask if I mind if there are laptops being used.

BTW it is not about laptops !

The ban the laptop movement is born of professors who wish to move everything back to the way they were(whenever that was..after all, it is the universities that have made it mandatory to have one. Tenured professors can afford to have these little fits of nonsensical madness. Why isn't the lecture a production which can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, anytime..which does not require the presence of a live in your face audience.

Such an arrangement would be a sign that we are finally ready to make the university education experience both an affordable one and one that represents the best in class..if we wish to pay for the best lecturers. We have the technology and the know how and the systems to do this now(and for the past 20 years). Why haven't we ?
No social prestige. End of jobs for many marginal professors and administrators. End of existence for many marginal universities.

just take away internet in the classrooms. there is no need for wireless access in a lecture hall. we don't need to go online during class because for the most part if we go online during class it's to check facebook.

I had professors who banned laptops in their classrooms, and I respected their right to do so. For the most part, they were classes that did not require us to take a lot of notes.

I also prefer the pen and paper methods because it is easier and I remember better by writing, but I have, on occasion, had profs whose rapid-fire lecture style and high volume of material made it hard for me to keep up, and so I would reluctantly bring the laptop. Typing doesn't bother me, but someone sitting in front of me watching a movie or playing a video game does. Laptops, sure. But if they're wearing headphones it is surely a bad sign, and I think the prof is in their rights to ask them not to disrupt the class (so are other students as far as that goes!)