Study on laptops in class

[Bluegoat]

I thought some might find this interesting - from SA.

 

It suggests that having a laptop in class is often not a good idea.

 

"Together, these led to a number of important insights into computer use in the classroom. First, participants spent almost 40 minutes out of every 100-minute class period using the internet for nonacademic purposes, including social media, checking email, shopping, reading the news, chatting, watching videos, and playing games. This nonacademic use was negatively associated with final exam scores, such that students with higher use tended to score lower on the exam. Social media sites were the most-frequently visited sites during class, and importantly these sites, along with online video sites, proved to be the most disruptive with respect to academic outcomes."

[MerryAtHope]

Yeah, not too surprising!

[Bluegoat]

It seems like kids are told they need to have them though.  And classes also seem to be set up so they may think they need to, or reaklly do need to. 

 

If this is the effect, I'd think it would be a good idea for professors to be very thoughtful about whether they set things up to make it really necessary for kids to have computers in class.  The advantage would need to be significant, I think.

[JennyD]

I teach at a university and some of my colleagues prohibit the use of laptops in class.  So far, I haven't, mostly because I think that there are benefits (although also drawbacks) to taking notes on a computer.

 

I have long wished, however, that I could just switch off the wifi in a classroom.  It seems like the issue is really internet access, as opposed to computer access.  

 

[Bootsie]

I find it rare that the benefits of taking notes on a computer outweigh the downsides, especially for classes that are more mathematical or have many graphs (like economics).  Unfortunately, many students have been encouraged before they get to college regarding all of the benefits and wonders of taking notes electronically. 

 

Phones are just as big of a distraction today as the laptops.

 

[Frances]

I honestly can't see the benefits of taking notes on a computer. I always found the physical act of writing something down helped me to commit it to memory. In college, I often rewrote my notes as a way to organize the material and study.

 

What do people perceive as the possible benefits of taking notes on a computer for a student without issues that might make writing difficult?

[regentrude]

I honestly can't see the benefits of taking notes on a computer. I always found the physical act of writing something down helped me to commit it to memory. In college, I often rewrote my notes as a way to organize the material and study.

 

 

 There is a study about taking notes by hand being superior for retention and analysis/organization of material. Google "the pen is mightier than the keyboard"

[regentrude]

I do not prohibit laptop use in my classes, but only about 1% of the students do (1-2 students per section of 150). Physics is not suited for taking notes on a keyboard; unless the student has a tablet with a stylus for diagrams and equations, computers are useless.

I agree with pp that phones are by far the greater distraction. 

[Butter]

So basically access to something distracting (like an internet connected device) means the student may become distracted, not pay attention, miss some things, and do worse on tests.  Is that not obvious?

[Bootsie]

So basically access to something distracting (like an internet connected device) means the student may become distracted, not pay attention, miss some things, and do worse on tests.  Is that not obvious/

It doesn't seem to be obvious to the students.  The seem to greatly underestimate their distraction

[elegantlion]

I've only had one class where I felt the need to use a computer. In that case the professor had no slides and talked the entire class (he's awesome, btw) only writing a few names on the board, nothing else. My hand got tired of writing so fast, so I started bringing my laptop. 

 

Overall, I find computers in classes annoying. People do get online, one day I saw two students registering for the next semester and chatting about it the entire class. I wanted to throw something at them. At my school professors have varying policies about computers, but most are very strict about phones. 

[JennyD]

I honestly can't see the benefits of taking notes on a computer. I always found the physical act of writing something down helped me to commit it to memory. In college, I often rewrote my notes as a way to organize the material and study.

 

What do people perceive as the possible benefits of taking notes on a computer for a student without issues that might make writing difficult?

 

I think that the key benefit is having notes that can be easily searched and/or combined with reading notes.  Exams in my field are frequently open-book, so this can be especially helpful on an exam.

 

On the other hand, I think that a major drawback is that students tend to just transcribe what I'm saying instead of listening, thinking about it, and then writing down the key points.  

[Bluegoat]

I honestly can't see the benefits of taking notes on a computer. I always found the physical act of writing something down helped me to commit it to memory. In college, I often rewrote my notes as a way to organize the material and study.

 

What do people perceive as the possible benefits of taking notes on a computer for a student without issues that might make writing difficult?

 

Some seem to feel a high typing speed means they get more down.  And I guess if you were making up study notes, it would save transcribing them.

 

Those are probably reasons not to do it that way, in reality.

 

But I suspect for many, their schooling until then has emphasized that things are somehow better done on a computer.

[Butter]

For my kid with dysgraphia, typing definitely makes sense.  Physically writing doesn't work so well.  My husband, who likely should've been diagnosed with dysgraphia, never took a single note in any class.  He couldn't listen and write and couldn't read what he wrote later anyway.  So for some people, laptops actually do make sense, provided they don't get distracted and play on the internet instead of taking notes.

 

JennyD, my handwritten notes in college were literally a transcription of what my teachers were saying.  It never occurred to me to do it any differently.  I never looked at or studied my notes later, though.  Simply writing down what they said was enough for me to remember it.

[Mom22ns]

For my kid with dysgraphia, typing definitely makes sense.  Physically writing doesn't work so well.  My husband, who likely should've been diagnosed with dysgraphia, never took a single note in any class.  He couldn't listen and write and couldn't read what he wrote later anyway.  So for some people, laptops actually do make sense, provided they don't get distracted and play on the internet instead of taking notes.

 

This.

 

I too have a kiddo with dysgraphia. He takes notes on an iPad with a keyboard using notability. He can easily integrate typing, pictures (he takes pictures of the whiteboard if the teacher is drawing), sound recordings, and drawing with his finger or a stylus. He did practice with this quite a bit before trying to use it in a classroom but finds it very effective. 

 

He can clearly do more with the iPad than the typical pencil user can when taking notes. It still isn't ideal for math and science classes, but you can see by my sig, that isn't his thing anyway. Additionally for him though is the fact that if he is taking notes with a pencil, he is so focused on the act of writing, he never hears a word the teacher is saying while he writes. It is just too hard for him. He has accommodations which he has refused to use and had a grammar class where the teacher wouldn't let him use the iPad (his accommodations would have allowed it). He failed. He retook the class online and got a 98%. He simply couldn't listen and take notes effectively and honestly, I looked at his notes, they were indecipherable. 

 

I know this isn't a reason for every kids to have a laptop in class, but there are kids who don't have dysgraphia who are still poor writers or slow writers or who struggle to focus on multiple things at the same time who probably benefit from the speed and abilities of taking notes electronically. Ds with a mile long list of disabilities is an A/B student with his iPad and would probably not be able to make it without it. It is true, he can force teachers to allow him to use it, but there are other students who can't that still benefit, so I'm thankful most teachers don't ban them. There are good and bad sides to technology in the classroom. Always.