As some K-12 institutions are considering 1-1 initiatives, some university profs want to ban laptops in their classes (MSNBC). The explanation for their position is that students are off-task. It is unclear if the problem is that students are attempting to take notes and not participating in discussion or working on other things.
I am not sure what to make of this. It is true that a laptop provides an alternative when things are boring – I use mine this way when attending sessions at conferences. Of course, I also take notes and lookup things mentioned by the presenter. There must be a better way to establish priorities – e.g., evaluate particiaption if that is a priority.
So – is the laptop worse than the alternative – taking notes by hand and doodling or writing a letter home? Perhaps the profs distrust the assessment that the students of today are different and thrive on multi-tasking.
