Laptops in Lectures

Kevin Corley

Given the large lecture classes utilized to teach mass amounts of students, it is easy for students to go unnoticed and become distracted. Most lecture classes allow the use of laptops during class as they can be useful for note taking and viewing supplementary material. However, a study mentioned in The Chronicle found that students taking laptops to class admitted that note-taking wasn’t the highest priority. Eight-one percent admitted to checking their email during class and sixty eight percent admitted to keeping instant message applications open. The truth is that while laptops can be a useful note taking tool in class, in reality they are more of a distraction than anything. Laptops are harmful to student’s grades because they are too distracting.

A professor, Cynthia M. Frisby, found that by no longer allowing the use of laptops in her class, the grades of her students increased. Personally, I feel that most classes would benefit from not allowing the use of laptops in class. In my own experience, it is easy to become distracted by a computer and lose track of what the professor is teaching. When looking around a lecture hall of students, it is not uncommon to find most other people on Facebook or various other sites. In most circumstances, laptops in lecture halls do more harm than good. They provide too much opportunity for distraction to students. Many students and professors would benefit from a stricter laptop policy in lecture halls. At the very least, schools should make it possible to turn off wifi access in lecture halls. The internet is the most distracting part of having laptops in lecture halls. If professors can control when internet access is on and when it is not, students could be more likely to utilize their computers for note taking. Internet access typically is not necessary for most classes. Overall, schools should enforce a stricter laptop policy in lecture halls, whether it be restricting laptop use entirely or simply access to the internet.