U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash • Hacker News Board

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#11

Post by shimman » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

nisegami wrote: post #8

shimman wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Laptops aren't essential for modern classes, laptops (in the true consumer sense of the world) have barely been a thing that students can easily afford for barely 20 years (more like 15 if we're being honest here). SV is going to learn that society is allowed to reject technology and the sun will still rise tomorrow.

>SV is going to learn that society is allowed to reject technology and the sun will still rise tomorrow. The sun may still rise, but the stock market may not.

Good thing the vast majority of Americans do not prosper if American corporations do. Hence the need for redistributive efforts to improve the material lives of all Americans.

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#12

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 4:55 PM UTC

xnyan wrote: post #3

baggachipz wrote: post #2

Seems a little drastic; couldn't they simply block domains and forbid vpns? Throwing the baby out with the bathwater seems counter-productive when a laptop is so essential for modern classes (far as I can see, I went to school in the pre-laptop era).

You can only do that if the school completely controls the laptop. You have to have the professor be able to verify that the student was using an approved laptop each class period. Seems like a nonstarter to me.

[deleted]

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#13

Post by RandomRandy » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 5:14 PM UTC

I can understand banning laptops during exams, but why would you ban them in class? I was at a big university with pretty much all my classes having more than 100 students, so most of my lectures consisted of the prof presenting slides with little to no interaction from students. The only advantage of having a laptop was that you could annotate the slides easier

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#14

Post by free_bip » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 7:57 PM UTC

RandomRandy wrote: post #13

I can understand banning laptops during exams, but why would you ban them in class? I was at a big university with pretty much all my classes having more than 100 students, so most of my lectures consisted of the prof presenting slides with little to no interaction from students. The only advantage of having a laptop was that you could annotate the slides easier

Agreed. If I'm attending higher education as an adult, I expect to be treated as one. Laptops may be harmful to learning for some students, but may be extremely helpful for others. The university is not the one who gets to decide that - the adult paying absurd sums of money to attend the class is.

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#15

Post by spicymaki » Tue, Jul 14, 2026, 9:59 PM UTC

RandomRandy wrote: post #13

I can understand banning laptops during exams, but why would you ban them in class? I was at a big university with pretty much all my classes having more than 100 students, so most of my lectures consisted of the prof presenting slides with little to no interaction from students. The only advantage of having a laptop was that you could annotate the slides easier

Large lectures (100+ students) should have little to no interactions between students and lecturers. It has been this way since the 11th century. You are not supposed to be learning the material for the first time during a lecture. Using the syllabus you should do the pre-work and the lecture concretizes the information. Office hours, tutoring, self study, homework, and online/AI resources can be used as tools to deepen your understanding of the material outside of the lecture hall.

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#16

Post by john01dav » Wed, Jul 15, 2026, 7:35 AM UTC

spicymaki wrote: post #15

RandomRandy wrote: post #13

I can understand banning laptops during exams, but why would you ban them in class? I was at a big university with pretty much all my classes having more than 100 students, so most of my lectures consisted of the prof presenting slides with little to no interaction from students. The only advantage of having a laptop was that you could annotate the slides easier

Large lectures (100+ students) should have little to no interactions between students and lecturers. It has been this way since the 11th century. You are not supposed to be learning the material for the first time during a lecture. Using the syllabus you should do the pre-work and the lecture concretizes the information. Office hours, tutoring, self study, homework, and online/AI resources can be used as tools to dee…

This is a terrible way to learn. Lecture halls are uncomfortable and synchronous, which are objectively less convenient than reading or watching videos at home. If someone wants that then they can organize watch parties, without forcing it on anyone else. Synchronous and uncomfortable should be reserved for interactive things, like in a flipped classroom

Re: U of Chicago law school bans laptops from classes amid AI backlash

#17

Post by spicymaki » Tue, Jul 21, 2026, 2:17 AM UTC

john01dav wrote: post #16

spicymaki wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large lectures (100+ students) should have little to no interactions between students and lecturers. It has been this way since the 11th century. You are not supposed to be learning the material for the first time during a lecture. Using the syllabus you should do the pre-work and the lecture concretizes the information. Office hours, tutoring, self study, homework, and online/AI resources can be used as tools to dee…

This is a terrible way to learn. Lecture halls are uncomfortable and synchronous, which are objectively less convenient than reading or watching videos at home. If someone wants that then they can organize watch parties, without forcing it on anyone else. Synchronous and uncomfortable should be reserved for interactive things, like in a flipped classroom

> This is a terrible way to learn.

What you are saying is not evidence based. The lecture method has delivered the greatest minds in western and eastern civilization for centuries. The newer pedagogical methods are in-fact failing us to the point that we are approaching post-literacy.