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For most college students, laptops, which are lighter and more compact than ever, are becoming more of an everyday necessity and less of a luxury. While many students utilize their laptops for note-taking, others are distracted by the Internet’s many offerings, and teachers are left to decide whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages in terms of student performance.
Some students prefer laptops because of the precision and speed with which they can take notes.
“I unfortunately suffer from a bad case of bad handwriting,” said freshman Stefan Holt, who uses his laptop in his classes. “When I scribble notes on a piece of paper, I’ll look back at it and not know what I had written. If something is to be handwritten, I type it on my computer afterward anyways.”
Not only do some students prefer note-taking with a laptop versus old-fashioned pencil and paper, but teachers also recognize this advantage.
“I am sympathetic to the use of the computer for note-taking,” said Dr. Ronald Cox, religion professor. Cox allows students to use laptops because he said that, although some students can be distracted on their computers, they are just as easily distracted by other activities like reading for other classes.
With the advent of wireless Internet in all Pepperdine classrooms comes increased access to course documents and research materials, but it also means that instant messaging and e-mailing have become increasingly popular.
Not only at Pepperdine, but at universities across the nation, wireless access is becoming more prevalent.
According to the 2005 National Survey of Information Technology in U.S. Higher Education, more than one-fourth (28.9 percent) of campuses indicate that full-campus wireless networks are functioning at their institutions. This contrasts with the 19.8 percent of institutions with wireless networks in 2004 and 14.2 percent in 2003.
Communication professor Kathy Kelley takes a proactive approach to avoiding computer distractions in her classroom by allowing students to use laptops as long as she doesn’t catch them using them inappropriately. If she notices a student e-mailing or instant messaging she then asks them to stop bringing their laptop to class.
While some students enjoy the freedom to surf the Internet during lectures, others are not keen on the idea of bringing their laptops to class.
Freshman Demi Williams said laptops are not crucial to performing well and that they can even be distracting for people who don’t own them but have to listen to others typing.
“It’s heavy, it’s annoying, and I wouldn’t want to bring it to class,” Williams said of laptops. “When people type and you hear it, it’s distracting.”
While students and teachers have their own opinions about laptop use in the classroom, the university does not have an official policy on the matter. Instead, teachers decide whether or not laptops are conducive to learning in the classroom.
“It should be up to every teacher because the nature of every subject matter is different,” Kelley said.
Cox is also opposed to the implementation of university guidelines relating to laptop use in the classroom.
Sophomore Jesse Nordstrom said every student must weigh the benefits with the disadvantages.
“There are only a select few people that can manage to pull off using their computer strictly for classroom purposes or at least not let it take away from them hearing the material that's being presented,” Nordstrom said. “In my opinion, I don't think that students should bring them to class, but I also don't think that they should be prevented from doing so.”
Submitted 02-16-2006
MALIBU, CA
