<p>Another observation- I’ve noticed that it’s the really dry, boring, conceited professors who ban laptops. People bring laptops to these classes so they don’t fall asleep or kill the professors.</p>
<p>Eh, the only professors of mine who’ve banned laptops are also the most interesting and engaging ones. But one of those classes is a physics class, which you probably would want to write to take notes on since he often puts up diagrams.</p>
<p>I’ll admit it, if I bring a laptop to class it’s because said class is painfully boring and I’m writhing in my chair with agony.
I retain information better by handwriting notes in a notebook. So if I whip out a laptop, it’s usually bad news. </p>
<p>However, in my experience, the extremely boring classes are usually also the easy A classes.</p>
<p>It’s a terrible idea not to give students the option to have the laptop actually; internet connectivity can help one look things up during class. I’m never in favor of things harming students who know how to pick and choose in favor of a wild shot at bringing in the masses when it comes to school.</p>
<p>I have one professor that bans that is so painfully boring it’s unreal, and one who bans who is actually REALLY cool and very interesting. She also doesn’t believe in exams because she says it isn’t conducive to learning to punish you for what you don’t understand yet. Somehow the class still manages to be a ton of work, but she is definitely a nifty professor. </p>
<p>I not only try to sit in the back to avoid bothering people, but I also bought one of those privacy screen things. It’s just a sort of film that goes over the laptop screen to make it harder to see if you’re not sitting right in front of it.</p>
<p>mathboy: I actually look up what the professor is talking about a lot during lectures. If I know I have a stupid question because I missed something obvious, or because it isn’t really relevant but I think it’s interesting, I can take a quick second to look it up myself without disrupting the class. That is a big part of what keeps me awake because it gives me greater opportunity to be engaged in the material. I just can’t take being talked at for three hours in one long never-ending sentence.</p>
<p>My H is a math professor and says he has no issues with it. He think the USC engineering college may have some direct use for laptops in the classroom, since he’s noted they are more prevalent there.</p>