College Professors Banning Laptops

March 9, 2010

College instructors are increasingly banning the use of laptops in class, claiming that such devices serve primarily as distractions to students.

The Washington Post reports that professors have outlawed laptop computers in classes at George Washington University, American University, the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia. David Cole, a professor at Georgetown Law School, told the Post that he now requires students to take notes with pen and paper.

"This is like putting on every student's desk, when you walk into class, five different magazines, several television shows, some shopping opportunities and a phone, and saying, 'Look, if your mind wanders, feel free to pick any of these up and go with it,'" Cole was quoted as saying in the Post about the use of laptops.

Recently, Kieran Mullen, a physics professor at the University of Oklahoma, poured liquid nitrogen onto a laptop and then shattered it on the ground to drive home the point that laptops don't belong in class. The incident, which was watched by over 1 million viewers on YouTube, was later found to be a hoax: Mullen had planted a defunct laptop in the lecture hall ahead of time in anticipation of using it for this purpose. Nevertheless, he still succeeded in making a point.

"It's silly and ostentatious, but it's memorable," said Mullen to OU's student publication, the Oklahoma Daily, about the stunt. "I just hope it drives the point home that if you're in class, you really need to be here."

Many students disagree. "If a student is not paying attention because he's chatting on Facebook, that's his problem, not the professors," wrote one student in the University of Denver student publication, The Clarion. "The fact that some students misuse technology is no reason to ban it. After all, how many professors ban pens and notebooks after noticing students doodling in the margins?"

But other students acknowledge that having laptops makes it easier to be distracted in class. "When I bring my laptop to class it makes me want to chat on Facebook instead of paying attention," admitted Taellor Howland, a sophomore at Kansas State University, who was quoted by the Collegian, "and when I look around the classroom mostly everyone else is doing the same thing."

Compiled by Yaffa Klugerman

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