The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

Banning Laptops in Class

56 Comments

August 14, 2008 by Kathy McManus

“Could you repeat the question?”

That’s the most common response law professor David Cole gets when he calls on disengaged students during class at Georgetown University. The question, Cole says, “is usually asked while the student glances up from the laptop screen that otherwise occupies his or her field of vision.”

The laptop--the favorite in-class tool for college and university students across the country—is coming unplugged.

When used responsibly—for taking notes or quickly accessing research—a laptop provides valuable educational support. But when used irresponsibly—for watching YouTube, surfing the web, emailing, IM-ing, playing games, checking sports scores, and shopping for shoes instead of engaging in class — laptops become the scourge of professors, some of whom are now banning them.

“I was happy to compete with Minesweeper and solitaire,” said University of Michigan law professor Don Herzog, but not “the entire internet.” Herzog banned all laptops from his classes for a day, and was so “stunned by how much better the class was,” that he has vowed to make the embargo permanent in the fall.

Professor Herzog is not alone in his class action. At Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, professors have nixed classroom laptops as well. At the University of Chicago Law School, classroom Wi-Fi was recently cut in response to an “epidemic” of web browsing. And at UCLA School of Law, when the meandering minds of the country’s future lawyers need to be jolted back from cyberspace to the Socratic method, professors can activate a “kill switch” to disable classroom Wi-Fi.

Many students disdain their professors’ attempts at online mind control, saying if classes weren’t so boring, they wouldn’t look for so many distractions. Ann Althouse, a professor from the University of Wisconsin Law School agrees with the students. “The idea that we’re going to somehow save these students from being distracted is a bit absurd,” she said. “Especially in law school, I’m on the side of individual responsibility and freedom.”

Tell us what you think: Should students be busted down for booting up in class? Should professors be responsible for making lectures and classes interesting enough to hold students’ attention? Do students have a responsibility to pay attention?

56 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• August 16, 2008 by Sally G

  . . . and possibly for taking notes in class. Internet use during the classroom interferes with the dialogue within the question. Bravo, Professor Herzog! Research cannot always be available at one's fingertips; some things must be looked up later, or one will get too involved in the research material to pay attention to what is going on in real life. Yes, some classes are more interesting than others; yes, the most popular—and, in my mind—best professors try to enliven their classes, but if a college student is so bored that he or she needs to surf the 'Net, play video games, or check E-mail, he or she should relinquish his or her position to a more motivated student. How will a potential lawyer always hooked up to the Internet learn to concentrate on his or her clients, or a judge during a court case? If my lawyer wants to look up something relevant to my case during an interview, that's one thing; but sharing my attention with him or her during the entire session will leave me an unhappy client. Same for doctors, administrators, etc.

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  • April 21, 2010 by mariam

    yoru song wasok but sad

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    • September 17, 2010 by Precious

      ok.....

• August 17, 2008 by Suanne G

  I think that, especially in law school, lecture is/ought to be a community effort between and among professor and students. Some of the most memorable learning happens in the exchanges, and is ostensibly why these gatherings take place (otherwise, just buy the lecture notes.) I think as long as the lecturer regularly and meaningfully engage in a dialogue, students have a responsibility to their fellows to be ready to join it -- even if the subject matter is not the most scintillating. As to banning wifi, it is the lecturer's prerogative, I believe, to control the environment based on her/his assessment of the value it adds to or detracts from the learning experience (but not based on how it adds or detracts from her/his ego).

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• August 20, 2008 by Thomas hutegger

  I find, the real problem is not whether to ban laptops or not. The real issue is, that many people have tremendous problems concentrating. It seems more beneficial to them to surf the net, than to participate in the lecture. Either they do not understand the importance of the lecture, or they haven't learned how to focus on something for an extended period of time, or the content of the lecture is useless. Maybe a combination of all of that? I am wondering how students could become better aware of the importance, how they could check whether they are able to focus and if now how to improve that skill. I hope, professors are taking this as a sign of the Universe, a reminder if you will, to try to re-evaluate the content and presentation of their lecture...

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• August 21, 2008 by Sally G

  Despite the many benefits of the Internet (such as the ability to toss around ideas in a blog such as this), it, as well as video games, television commercials, etc., do seem to have an impact on lowering the attention span (no scientific data, just my impression from various articles read and my own observations). It takes a lot more effort to read a whole book or to participate in an extended discussion than to surf the net or watch a sitcom. I used to really enjoy a 2.5- or 3-hour movie; now they all seem to be under 2 hours. I have nothing against the Internet or the entertainment industry as a whole, just today's focus on "instant information" and "entertainment-first". (Don't get me started on "selling" mainstream media news programs, which to me are best classified as "infotainment". No, not all class lectures are engaging, though the best are, but it's a student's privilege and responsibility to get all the benefit he or she can from attending classes. Using the Internet, E-mail, and instant messaging for studying and other communications, sure, but not during a live class.

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• August 23, 2008 by Anne K

  While I think it is a great point that we need to look at why peoples' attention spans are getting shorter and what would motivate a college or graduate level student to spend their class time surfing the net, I don't think that's really the point when you talk about a ban. At a college or higher level, these students spend a large amount of money to go there, and are frequently forced to take classes that are either redundant or where they already know the information. In that case, perhaps they are trying to entertain themselves in the least disruptive manner possible. If that is not the case, surely come midterms when they fail they will realize the error of their ways. As someone who was subjected to many such "required" classes without the benefit of the internet, I feel for the students here and don't quite understand the complaint. So they aren't paying attention? Are they passing? Do they know the material? Some people learn by reading the book, some people learn ahead, and until they are willing to lift the class attendance requirement to remove these individuals that obviously need some kind of diversion, I applaud these students for finding a pastime that does not disrupt the class and create a poor learning environment for those that need to pay attention. If the professors are really that concerned about competing with distractions (and you will never get rid of every single distraction), they should focus their efforts on making their lectures more interesting and interactive even to the advanced participant rather than blocking WiFi, which will inevitably just lead to increased use of installed software like video games or banning laptops so they become replaced with PDAs and Smartphones.

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• August 24, 2008 by Melissa S

  I have a BA, an MBA, and am in the final three courses of an MS. I'm also adjunct faculty at a major university, and I've taught corporate education and led various corporate learning workshops. I've been stunned how little people seem to have invested in their educations. They expect their instructors to fill them up, give them good grades, and try to do as little work as possible. When I was earning my BA, I had to work my tail off just to get a B-; A's were only for exceptional work. Now I get students (grad students!) complaining over an A-. Some of the most pedigreed students in my last class were surfing the web throughout the seminar; two students even laughed and passed a laptop back and forth while I was speaking. I fully support banning laptops, just as we have cell phones and pagers. They are not needed to take notes and I believe inhibit taking notes. Students insist on having power point slides for everything - if I go to the white board for a free-form discussion, they are aghast that they don't have an e-version of my material. As a student, my fellow students have been shocked that I actually read the material before class and try to do all of the assignments on time and on my own. It's shocking, and disappointing, the base behavior of most students today.

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  • September 19, 2008 by Kay Brown

    I am reading these posts and one thing I am not reading is the fact that when a person is in front of you speaking it is rude to ignore them. I don’t care if it is boring or not if you talk, play on the computer, text, etc. that is rude. I teach at a High School and I do not accept when I am talking the students are not listening. I am currently taking classes and I give my professors the same respect. I know they say that when they play games they are entertaining them selves and not interrupting the class, I disagree, when someone in front of me is typing or playing a game during a class it is very distracting to me.

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• August 26, 2008 by Heather Myers

  As school is preparing the students for the 'real' world, they need to learn to ignore the internet, and other readily available distractions. Odds are no matter where they end up working, there will be internet. Better to learn the lesson in class that browsing and not paying attention costs them grade-wise. The other option is to learn by getting fired at their first job. They need to learn to ignore all the distractions and focus on the topic at hand, or will never make it through life. Before laptops there were calculators with games - before that hangman on paper.

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• September 2, 2008 by animal_lover

  I have seen this at professional conferences also. A student/participant should be engaging that's the value of the face to face interaction. We are raising an ADD nation.

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• September 12, 2008 by Raymond Kelly McElhiney II

  Up to the teachers. Teacher says...student does. That simple.

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• September 18, 2008 by Stephen Hinkle

  I feel that a total laptop ban is wrong. After all, not everyone has good handwriting skills. For some with disabilities, a laptop may be necessary. As to enforcing digital manners and minimizing distractions, I feel that some of that may be necessary. For example, limiting access to some or all websites during class hours or blocking instant messenger ports on classroom wi-fi networks may be one idea that could be used for enforcement of digital manners. I also feel that teaching kids civility is another important part of this. However, I see no problem with someone using their laptop to take notes in class or typing their answers for class assignments.

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• October 8, 2008 by Mara

  I use my laptop for taking notes in class and I'm grateful for the internet because I use it to add to my notes. For example, when my Psychology teacher was discussing the brain, instead of taking down the notes, I went online to Google and found a picture with the parts of the brain label. I am a visual learner and that helps when I have to study for a test. Also, sometimes I even have teachers asking me to look stuff online. Yes, people do use laptops so they don't have to pay attention. But in college, we are adults. We are paying for our education. Let us be responsible for our actions. If a student fails because they rather be on Myspace, oh well. That's their tuition down the drain.

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• October 9, 2008 by Noel Jefferson

  Banning laptops in law school will not solve the problem of unmotivated students. A creative professor will be able to draw anyone who appears to be distracted, back into the class instruction. Some may stray because s/he could by chance know the topic so confidently, that multi-tasking may be an option. Additionally, if the professor moves about the classroom, students will be challenged to surfing the net without getting caught. Bottom line: if the student fails the test, s/he fails the class. Banning laptops seems like a substitute to a possibly boring lecture.

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