Laptops aren't going anywhere

Some professors at Hopkins have banned computers in their classrooms on the grounds that they distract students and reduce their engagement in class discussion. During these first few days of class I have run up against myriad laptop policies in my various courses. Though professors have legitimate concerns, I don't think that banning laptops is reasonable in 2012.

Taking notes on a computer provides many known benefits to students. Typing notes is often much quicker than writing them. Typed notes are never messy or illegible. At the end of the semester, they can easily be converted into study guides for finals. Additionally, once notes are typed and stored on a computer they are easily accessible. If you want to remember what a professor said about an obscure topic two years ago, you can simply search your computer and find old notes instantly. If your notes were written down, you would have to find a notebook that might already have been trashed.

During class, if a professor uses a word a student does not know, they can use their computer's dictionary to quickly define it. I often use this resource in class so I don't forget to look things up later. This makes class more efficient and edifying.

So why do professors ban laptops? Well, I think Facebook sums it up. There are, of course, countless things to do and people to talk to on the Internet. Students may check their e-mail, play computer games, or shop while they appear to be bent over studiously. From a professor's perspective, a student typing a blog post looks no different from a student who is actually listening and typing notes.

Many professors who ban laptops are actually just looking to ban the Internet. If they could prevent students from going online they wouldn't have a problem letting them use their computers in class. A computer without Internet, though still powerful, is much more similar to a piece of paper.

It is probably not realistic for Hopkins to cut the Internet in differnet classrooms at different times at a professor's request. Especially because that professor may need to use the Internet anyway to show a video or other web resource.

But rather than ban laptops altogether, professors could monitor students more closely. Some classes already have TAs doing periodic checks, or involve an explicit request that students use their laptops for classwork only. These deterrents may not be perfect, but they allow classes to move ahead, laptops in tow.

Though professors have valid concerns about the distractions posed by laptops, it is too late to fight them. Students have fully integrated computers into their study habits and daily life in college, and artificially removing them from certain situations does little to really fix the problem or hold students accountable for their own educations. At this point, professors need to accept the trend and find ways to work around it, or engage it head on.