Some professors banning laptops in class

<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-03-unwired-grad-school_x.htm?POE=TECISVA%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-03-unwired-grad-school_x.htm?POE=TECISVA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>mostly focuses on grad school, says the students don't pay attention to the class. Says laptops are still relatively rare in undergrad classes (I've only seen a few laptops in classes at my schoo).</p>

<p>Funny, some grad schools (like Creighton) give laptops to students when they enroll...</p>

<p>I guess it depends on the course. I know a lot of business programs in Canada are making laptops mandatory.</p>

<p>one of the schools I was considering (Cornerstone University) gives laptops to all their incoming freshmen........... I bought a laptop for school......I use it all the time and will probably use it even more in college</p>

<p>i agree with it.. the only time i've eved used my laptop in class was to work on a paper in another class... and i used to play solitaire on a friends pda.. completely distracting :)</p>

<p>I hope that doesn't get too popular. I'm looking forward to being able to type notes instead of scribbling them down and then not being able to read them because I was in a rush :)</p>

<p>I doubt it will - if it does, students shall revolt!</p>

<p>yea, laptops are required at my school, for undergrads at least</p>

<p>Goofing around in class and looking at your laptop instead of paying attention to the instructor is rude.</p>

<p>I guess most students are rude then. i also spent a lot of time drawing in class. i used to spread my colored pencils out all over my desk in my networking class. and i'm famous for eating in class. i think eating in class is a lot more distracting than playing on a laptop.</p>

<p>funny that i got along great with all of my prof's... first name basis with most of them.</p>

<p>IMO, if you are in class making noise by punching the keys on your laptop, you owe it to everyone else to at least be taking notes. I think eating is much better than playing games.</p>

<p>if you're just going to look at facebook during class (or play pocket tanks / watch movies or tv shows), don't bother coming.</p>

<p>I would not be surprised to see profs ban laptops being used during class/lecture time - the clackity clack of all those keys can be very distracting - unless of course - the computer is required to be utilized during the class for some specific reason.</p>

<p>is it possible to play on your computer during class and still get good grades?</p>

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is it possible to play on your computer during class and still get good grades?

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</p>

<p>Why not? I used to occasionally doodle in the margins or zone out, and did just fine.</p>

<p>The banning of laptops sounds like a "more mops" solution to me. The same students who aren't paying attention are just going to, like fendergirl, find other ways to spend their time. </p>

<p>I'm glad that my program (grad) takes a more open position on laptops (actually requires them.)</p>

<p>I understand the desire to keep students' attention, but by banning laptops, you're just going to force the culprits to become more creative. Hell, I'd say that in every class I took at UCLA, at least one student got caught doing the Daily Bruin crossword puzzle. What difference would it have made had she had a laptop?</p>

<p>like i said before, out of all of my classes, people only ever brought laptops to one of them - my web development class.. which made sense because we could be doing our stuff on our laptops while in class.. however a lot of time was spent IMing, internet-ing, etc. I only took my laptop once, and like I said it was to work on a paper for another class. When I didn't have my laptop, I borrowed my friends PDA to play games. I didn't need to pay attention in web development class.. I've been doing web development since high schoool. What grade did I get on that class? an A. Such a good job that my prof often used my homework and projects as an example to the class (at one point he told our class that if they needed any help with things they should e-mail or team up with me.), and even recommended me for a web development job which I freelanced during my spring semester... even though he darn well knew I wasn't paying attention to him.</p>

<p>i used to doodle in my other classes, like i said i'd even take my colored pencils with.. but i still did well in them.</p>

<p>My neighbor is a prof and she banned them from her classroom because she said all the students were too busy checking email/chatting/facebooking/etc to pay attention... I heart laptops but I have to say I understand the rational.</p>

<p>Undergrad - Laptops are the future. I advocate paperless notes.</p>

<p>Would Tablet PCs fall under the same category as laptops? It is possible to actually use programs to write your notes unlike laptops where you'd have to type them.</p>

<p>my school has wireless internet throughout the campus and electrical outlets that pop out of the tables in case you run out of power. i couldnt imagine not having a laptop in class anymore.</p>

<p>Pavlov: A douchebag that bans laptops would not care.</p>