Teaching Tips: An ORFD Bulletin
March 2010, Volume 16
Topic: Laptop Abuse in the Classroom
We let these devices into our classrooms without discussion; at the very least each of us should consider if we should allow them to remain. Kevin Yamamoto, Professor of Law
The problem: As you look upon the small sea of faces in your classroom, you see more than half your students positioned comfortably behind their laptops, engaged variously with material and discussion you are bringing to the classroom. You shrug it off as part of university life in the 21st century. Later a student approaches you with the complaint that she is woefully distracted by neighbouring students’ screens busy with Facebook, YouTube videos, email, and interactive games. You realize that the problem is not laptops per se, but students’ preoccupation with non-course materials during class. You wonder if laptops are helping or hindering the educational purposes you intend for your students.
Responding Depends on Your Value for Internet Resources in Class: Twenty years ago, the materials students engaged in the classroom were very much dependent on a professor’s delivery—a lecture, a guided discussion, group work, videos, guest speakers, handouts, and the like. Today these in-class resources are augmented by online ones—resources that replicate, add to, and distract from in-class ones. This begs the question, “Do you feel you can accomplish the learning goals of your course with or without students’ access to the web during class time?” If you can, a laptop-free environment may work for you; if not, you will inevitably run the risk of some students straying from your lesson plan as they surf Rate Your Professor.com, email cousin Biff, or watch U2 on YouTube. Do you need online resources in class to engage your students meaningfully?
Possible Options: To Ban or Not to Ban: For some, meaningful engagement is deemed best in an environment free of internet access. To this end, an increasing number of universities have banned laptops for a host of reasons. Many more schools do not ban, for an equally long list of reasons. As long as your university empowers you to make this decision on a class-by-class basis, it’s wise to know reasoning and research behind your options.
Arguments for Tolerance (No Ban): 1) Laptops are today’s pad & paper, 2) they are an efficient means for note-taking, 3) they allow students to access slides posted online, 4) they empower students to search course-related materials online, 5) students can instant message others in class as part of the “discussion,” 6) students can post blog entries about course material for classmates to read, 7) students have the right to use a laptop for whatever purpose, and more so if a professor is boring, 8) students are plenty capable at multi-tasking (they grew up with it), 9) a teacher’s decision to ban might lead to being labelled as Luddite, 10) a ban would draw attention to disabled students who need laptops in class to access speciality software.
Arguments for a Ban: 1) Laptops distract the student user from lecture and discussion, 2) laptops distract neighbouring students, 3) laptops interfere with classroom discussion by creating a physical and mental barrier between the professor and students, 4) laptops encourage verbatim and other poor note-taking practices, 5) laptops can signal an overreliance on technology by students to solve problems rather than think for themselves.
Evidence for Banning: Kevin Yamamoto argues for banning computers in large lecture classes where students are required to master key concepts foundational for future learning. (He does not ban them in upper level courses where he has established relationship with his students.) He cites empirical studies that show the following:
§ A negative correlation between time spent web browsing in a class and students’ grades in that class
§ Students’ poorer recall and recognition of material from a video lecture when students were allowed use of laptops (versus not)
§ Observation that laptop presence leads to less brain stimulation required for declarative memory (abstract thinking), and more stimulation for habit (repeated actions) memory. He argues that much university learning requires the former.
§ Observation that our brain power is limited, and that stimulation overload leads to half-attention, not full attention, to competing stimuli. Hence, students don’t “multi-task,” they “half-task.”
Relational and Covenantal Approaches: While some favor unilateral laptop bans for the good of their students, others suggest a covenantal approach which gets students talking about the laptop issue the first week of class, and establishing rules for their use. One TWU professor used a questionnaire to gather student opinions, and learned that students would support a ban. Others attempt to incorporate the benefits of online sources into class. Your colleagues here at TWU have offered these alternatives:
Personally I have students at the beginning of term stipulate their “rules” for the class. Typically there are rules about respecting the learning of all and valuing the class. Later, if there are abuses of computers, I can draw on these rules and comment that “having you on technology—that is not on task—is not respecting the learning of those who are distracted around you.” Catherine Hoe Harwood, School of Nursing
I usually start each semester by discussing this topic with students and by encouraging them to make the most of classes by not being distracted, especially given the high costs of university courses. Further to that, I usually begin each class by encouraging students to turn off their wireless cards/devices/phones/etc. to keep away distractions--both to self and others. Joel Lohr, Religious Studies
In my smaller upper-level courses, I try to embrace the technology if possible. I’ve been virtually paperless (mycourses documents only) for more than a year now. Students have their laptops, and sometimes we Google things during lecture and discussion. Other times they may indeed be surfing and emailing, but this may weaken their performance on exams. Karen Steensma, Biology
Dave Jeffery (Linguistics Department) did an in-class survey with his LING 210 students, and found that 55% never use laptops in class, were split on whether a student had the right to use a lap top at will (41% agreed, and disagreed), had been distracted by others using laptops (64%), and thought LING 210 would still be a good course even if laptops were not allowed (90.4%). These findings may explain why half his students were unsure if “using a laptop in class significantly enhances my educational experience in the class” with the remaining split one-quarter each between agreeing and disagreeing with this statement.
We hope this information assists you in making up your own mind on this matter.
Ideas for Teaching Tips? Send yours to: Gordon Chutter () or Bill Strom ().
Yamamoto, Kevin, “Banning Laptops in the Classroom: Is it Worth the Hassles?” Journal of Legal Education, 57, No. 4 (2007): 1-46.