Laptops: Tools or Distraction?

By: Stewart Hall

There is an ongoing battle over the use of laptops in classrooms between faculty members and professors that believe laptops are useful learning tools and those that see laptops as distractions. Laptops are now becoming required at many schools including Georgia Tech. The fact that students are required to have a computer with a portable form factor would suggest that the school expects their students to take their computers around campus with them, but does this mean that students should be using laptops in classes? Some school faculty members see laptops as very important tools for learning. Prakash Nair says "I have started referring to computers in classrooms as 'digital teaching assistants.'" in his article on the usefulness of laptops in classrooms. However, this view is not globally accepted, and some professors are beginning to ban the use of laptops in classrooms claiming that they are distractions to the operators and anyone who can view the screen. In his article on banning laptops, David Cole says "That’s not only distracting to the student who is checking baseball scores and statistics but for all those who see him and many others doing something besides being involved in class."

Both side of this argument make sense, but obviously this creates a disagreement between both students and faculty. There are, however, solutions that offer a compromise. Professors could allow laptops for those who wish to use them, but require them to sit in the back of the classroom. This would allow the students who use laptops as a "digital teaching assistant" to have their way and still utilize the full advantages of having a laptop. Of course, not all students are going to use laptops to help them learn; some students will still choose to engage in unrelated and distracting tasks. While a laptop ban may be seen as helping these students concentrate, it is likely that these students don't care enough to pay attention and would find something else to do during the lecture, or just not come at all. As long as they were sitting in the back of the room, their activities would not distract other students.