Every year, it happens. I sit down, open up my laptop and begin taking notes during the first day of class. Like clockwork, 20 minutes or so into the class, the professor will mention that he or she does not allow laptops in the class, only after I have been taking notes the lecture for the previous 20 minutes using said laptop.
This is not intended as a slight against professors who do this–it is their class, their rules and they certainly have good reasons for doing so. But something about this has always struck me as being a little bit odd.
The reason for a laptop ban, as most professors who do this will explain, is that students are too tempted to be on Facebook, or emailing, or any number of activities that are not directly classroom-related.
This, considering the number of people you might see on Facebook in any given class, is a valid concern–but not necessarily one that justifies the complete removal of laptop computers from the classroom.
There are two major problems with this outlook. The first is the solution doesn’t solve the problem. Requiring students not use their laptops is not going to magically make them pay attention in class.
There are dozens of ways to waste time in a college classroom, and most are fairly low-tech.
Doodling requires nothing but a writing implement and some paper, or, if you’re feeling adventurous, your desk. Sleeping or doing another class’s work to save some free time later are also time-honored traditions of the collegiate slacker.
The second thing that bothers me about such policies is how out-of-place they are. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, and most jarringly, almost every course that will not allow you to use laptops in class will require significant use of a computer to complete the coursework. Online homework, programs like AutoCAD and even things as basic as word processing or spreadsheets have become intrinsic tools of a modern education.
Blocking access to these tools in an academic setting is a step backwards. Furthermore, this is not a preschool; prohibiting laptops in the classroom is nothing more than a hand-holding measure that is setting a bar for the class based on the actions of the least involved students.
Would it not make more sense to base classroom policy on the needs of students who are actually respecting the professor’s time and trying to succeed in the course? The people who refuse to pay attention and spend the entire class on Facebook are not going to do well even if severed from their computers, and the lack of a laptop does nothing but hinder the students who are there to learn.