Kristin Martin
Published: October 29, 2008
An increasing number of students are using their laptop computers during classes for typing in-class notes and connecting to the Internet.
“It’s really grown,” said John Atkins, economics professor, about the use of laptops in his classes over the past few years. He said about 20 percent of students in each of his classes always have laptops with them. “Just in the last few years we’ve seen these numbers getting higher.”
About a year ago, David Hinds, professor of visual arts, saw a laptop being used in his class for the first time. Since then, “It’s increasing, I guess, because the price is coming down on (laptops) and more and more students have them.”
Hinds said he usually has about four or five laptops being used in each class.
A lot of students said they use their laptops for typing in-class notes or looking up terms they don’t understand and other things that the teacher is discussing. However, some students admit to surfing the Internet when they get bored during class.
This semester, Aaron Robinett, 18, began using his laptop during his classes. He said he does type notes, but tends to wander off to Web sites when he gets bored in class.
Michael West, who is in his 60s and taking classes “just for fun,” has been typing notes and taking a computer to his classes since 1980 when he got his first laptop. He said, “I can type faster than I can write. I can read (the notes) when I’m finished with them. They’re clean; they’re organized.”
West uses a ThinkPad computer, which is an ordinary laptop but has a screen that can be spun around to lay flat and be written on with a digitizer pen. He uses it in that form when he needs to draw graphs.
When asked what the pros and cons of taking his ThinkPad to class are, West said, “All pro, no con.”
Robinett said if students can afford a laptop, they should buy one for taking notes.
Although the teachers interviewed said they generally don’t have a problem with students using laptops during class, they will prohibit students from using them if they catch students checking their e-mail, surfing the Internet or being a distraction to other students.
“As long as they’re using the computer for class-related usage, I have no problem,” Hinds said. “I think it’s a wonderful tool. I wish way back in the Dark Ages, when I was a student, I had such a device.”
Hinds said he walks around the class and glances at the computer screens to make sure students aren’t breaking any rules. He said so far he hasn’t seen any students using the computer for purposes not related to class discussions.
“As long as it doesn’t distract other students, I’m not going to stop them from using it,” Atkins said.
“Last semester, I had one class where we had about three students always looking at the same screen. I did have to have a word with those students about that, and I told them then that they would have to stop bringing that PC to class. That became a distraction,” he said.
Although Atkins and Hinds aren’t against students using computers in the classroom, Atkins said he does know a few PJC instructors who have banned laptops from class.
“I think more and more we’re hearing that instructors are getting concerned about having (laptops) in class,” he said. “Who knows, in the future we may start to see some policy on it. I hope it doesn’t get to that.”
Atkins said he doesn’t plan to ever ban laptops.
“I don’t really feel comfortable banning them from class. I don’t like to do that kind of thing,” he said. “We’re all adults; we’re all here for the same purpose. I try to treat students with respect, and I hope they do the same thing.”
Both Robinett and West said they don’t think instructors care about students using laptops in class.
“You’re not disturbing the class. You’re typing on the keypad. It’s quieter than writing on a notepad,” West said.
Even though many students are making the switch from old-fashioned pen-and-paper note taking to typing notes on a computer, most students still take notes the old way.
Jaime Lewis, 17, said she hand-writes notes in all of her classes and probably won’t ever take a laptop to class.
“I don’t type fast enough to keep up, and I don’t want to be distracted with the Internet because I know I’d be tempted to be,” she said. “I prefer (writing notes by hand) because I write fast and I can abbreviate and go back; however I don’t like that by the end of the class I don’t fully understand all of my notes.”
Lewis said she isn’t distracted by students who do use laptops in class and has no problem with it if it aids their learning.
