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Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#41

Post by wccrawford »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #16
wccrawford wrote: post #11

I'd be more impressed if they also did the same study with notepads and doodles and daydreams, and compared the numbers. I have a feeling that people who aren't paying attention weren't going to anyhow. However, I'd also guess that at least some people use the computer to look up additional information instead of stopping the class and asking, which helps everyone involved.

> I'd also guess that at least some people use the computer to look up additional information instead of stopping the class and asking, which helps everyone involved. Are you sure about that? Intuitively, wouldn't it be the opposite? Asking questions results in the teacher giving an answer that can benefit the whole class, whereas if you just look something up yourself you're the only one who benefits from that addit…

While I won't deny that it's possible the question might help multiple people, it's more likely that if it's simple enough to look up online, it's better for everyone to do their own research.

Lectures still serve to help for more difficult questions, and the time is better spent on them instead.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#42

Post by izacus »

Glyptodon wrote: post #21

I feel like the conclusion is a bit off base: that students lack the self control to restrict the use of laptops laptops to class-related activities is somehow a sign that the problem is the laptop and not the students? I think it's very possible that younger generations have big issues with self-control and instant gratification. But I think it's wrong to think that laptops are the faulty party.

Riiight, because teenagers and young adults are so known for their long-term planning skills and self-control.

We're not animals, we don't get born with instincts. This is why humans require education and upbringing to teach. And yes, this (gasp!) sometimes means you need to make a non-adult person to do something against their first whim.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#43

Post by xexers »

cmiles74 wrote: post #25
brightball wrote: post #20

Shocker. I remember being part of Clemson's laptop pilot program in 1998. If you were ever presenting you basically had to ask everyone to close their laptops or their eyes would never even look up.

I see this a lot in the workplace as well.

Even without laptops I see this in the workplace. In a meeting, if there is a PowerPoint presentation with words on it, people instinctively look at the bright and shiny screen. That's why I recommend throwing a few black slides in your presentation when you want people to focus back on the presenter.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#44

Post by sillysaurus3 »

djrogers wrote: post #23
makecheck wrote: post #2

If students aren’t engaged, they aren’t going to become star pupils once you take away their distractions. Perhaps kids attend more lectures than before knowing that they can always listen in while futzing with other things (and otherwise, they may skip some of the classes entirely). The lecture format is what needs changing. You need a reason to go to class, and there was nothing worse than a professor showing slide…

> If students aren’t engaged, they aren’t going to become star pupils once you take away their distractions That's a bit of a straw-man - nobody said anything about turning every student in to star pupils, it's a matter of degrees. There is no question in my mind that a device capable of being online, using social media, and that is constantly pushing information at you is going to be a higher level distraction than…

What if star pupils do better when given a laptop?

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#45

Post by Fricken »

Glyptodon wrote: post #21

I feel like the conclusion is a bit off base: that students lack the self control to restrict the use of laptops laptops to class-related activities is somehow a sign that the problem is the laptop and not the students? I think it's very possible that younger generations have big issues with self-control and instant gratification. But I think it's wrong to think that laptops are the faulty party.

Yeah, kids these days have self control problems. Somehow human nature has been fundamentally altered between the previous generation and this one. It has nothing to do with external variables such as the creeping omnipresence of distraction machines like laptops.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#46

Post by izacus »

rdtsc wrote: post #26

I had a laptop and left it home most of the time. And just stuck with taking notes with a pen and sitting upfront. I took lots notes. Some people claim it's pointless and distracts from learning but for me the act of taking notes is what helped solidify the concepts a better. Heck due to my horrible handwriting I couldn't even read some of the notes later. But it was still worth it. Typing them out just wasn't the sa…

My experience from college is pretty much the same - as soon as I stopped bringing laptop to courses and started using a paper notebook, my recall improved significantlly. If you don't have a distraction device on-hand, it's significantly harder to get distracted as soon as a lecture gets a bit more boring and doing notes forces you to pay attention to those boring bits as well.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#47

Post by deadhead »

izacus wrote: post #36
compuguy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of us also have terrible handwriting, so taking notes by hand is out of the question. Though I will also surmise that they can also be a distraction.

Why is improving your handwriting out of the question?

Its not an option for everyone. I had a classmate in undergrad who had a medical condition where they could not take notes by hand. They even had a doctor's note saying that they had to have a laptop in class.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#48

Post by rdtsc »

LyndsySimon wrote: post #33
rdtsc wrote: post #26

I had a laptop and left it home most of the time. And just stuck with taking notes with a pen and sitting upfront. I took lots notes. Some people claim it's pointless and distracts from learning but for me the act of taking notes is what helped solidify the concepts a better. Heck due to my horrible handwriting I couldn't even read some of the notes later. But it was still worth it. Typing them out just wasn't the sa…

As I get older, I find that physical notes help me more and more. I write in fairly neat cursive, using a fountain pen, and make it a point to never write down the words I'm hearing unless they're an important quote or something. Doing this helps me process the information while it's still fresh in my mind, which in turn leads to more thorough understanding.

> make it a point to never write down the words I'm hearing unless they're an important quote or something

That's the key I think! The forced paraphrasing (while summarizing) helps process the information better.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#49

Post by pmiller2 »

stevemk14ebr wrote: post #9

I think this is a highly personal topic. As a student myself i find a laptop in class is very nice, i can type my notes faster, and organize them better. Most of my professors lectures are scatter brained and i frequently have to go back to previous section and annotate or insert new sections. With a computer i just go back and type, with a pen and paper i have to scribble, or write in the margins. Of course computer…

You might think laptops are as good or better than paper notes, but the research says otherwise. Here is a popular article from Scientific American about this very topic: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret...

Tons of journal articles on this are available if you look.

Re: Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

#50

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