The Costs and Benefits of Using Laptops in a College Class

Gregory Micek

Laptops present both advantages and disadvantages for education in the college classroom. Laptops allow students to take more organized notes faster, as many students can type faster than they can write. Wireless technology allows students to use their laptops to access the Internet in class. Thus, students are able to transfer files easily between their peers, and professors can instantaneously transfer a handout to a large lecture hall without taking the time to pass out a sheet of paper to each individual. Students can quickly search the Internet for answers to simple questions, look up words or concepts in dictionaries and encyclopedias online, follow PowerPoint presentations on their own laptops so that they are easier to read, and can even follow along with online textbooks. The benefits of having a laptop are apparent in the fact that students have access to the vast resources of the Internet in class, and they can easily obtain and share files and documents.

However, access to the Internet also means that students have access to a nearly infinite number of distractions, including social network sites such as Facebook, online games, online shopping, and any other online activity. These distractions can prevent students from paying attention in class. According to Jeffrey Young’s article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, one student stated, “‘[i]f it’s material that I know, most of the time I will surf the Internet a little bit.’” The article also mentions that sometimes she “uses the wireless Internet access in the college’s classrooms to do some online shopping or chat using instant messenger.” Therefore, students that have wireless Internet access in college classrooms can easily do other things besides listen to and take notes on the class, which detracts from their overall ability to learn.

David Cole presents another issue with laptops in the college classroom. His article in the Washington Post mentions that “[n]ote-taking on a laptop encourages verbatim transcription” and “[t]he note-taker … no longer processes information in a way that is conducive to the give and take of classroom discussion.” He also mentions that students that take notes by hand have to actually “listen, think and prioritize the most important themes.” Thus, Cole believes that beside the distractions laptops present, taking notes by hand forces students to think and learn more during the actual class lecture than if they were sitting behind a computer screen.

Overall, laptops in the college classroom allow students to access the immense number of resources on the Internet and to transfer files and handouts easily between their peers and professors, but they can also be a source of distraction and can inhibit students from processing information and participating in class in the same manner that they would if they were taking notes by hand.