Should laptops be banned from class?
The Post has a piece on the “trend” of banning laptops in college classes.
[Georgetown law prof David] Cole has banned laptops from his classes, compelling students to take notes the way their parents did: on paper. A generation ago, academia embraced the laptop as the most welcome classroom innovation since the ballpoint pen. But during the past decade, it has evolved into a powerful distraction. Wireless Internet connections tempt students away from note-typing to e-mail, blogs, YouTube videos, sports scores, even online gaming — all the diversions of a home computer beamed into the classroom to compete with the professor for the student’s attention.
Cole, who teaches a course on “democracy and coercion” says laptops are “an attractive nuisance.”
My co-teacher and I have debated the merits of a ban for our class at GMU Law, and while I’ve vacillated on my position, I’ve ultimately taken the libertarian approach. Our students are all big boys and girls paying lots of money for a law education at a top school. If they want to surf the internet during class, that’s their choice as long as they don’t bother anyone else. We provide a clear incentive, though. A full 20 percent of their grade is class participation, and we’re serious about it.
Ultimately I think UVA’s Sive Vaidhyanathan nails it on the head: “If students don’t want to pay attention, the laptop is the least of your problems.”
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kidsilkhaze
