Banning Laptops in University Classrooms
Many universities begin the new academic (school) year around this time of year, in late August and early September, and I recently came across an article about laptops (portable or easy to move computers) in the classroom.
When I was a professor at the university, students would sometimes–maybe, often–get distracted (not give full attention) by other things and not pay attention to the class discussions. I’m sure my boring lectures (educational talks) were the cause.
These days, there’s something else distracting students: their laptops. Most American universities now have WiFi or wireless Internet access across the entire campus (space and buildings of the university). This means that students with laptop computers can bring them to class and surf the web (go to and look at different Internet pages) during class. As you can imagine, many professors don’t like this very much.
Professors at some universities are retaliating (fighting back). Some are banning (not allowing) laptops in their classrooms. Other universities allow professors to flip a switch (cut the electrical connection) to turn off WiFi in their classrooms. Professors say that it makes a huge difference. Students pay attention more and there is a better connection and better communication between professors and students. On the other hand, some students say that if professors were more interesting, they wouldn’t get bored and surf the web during class in the first place (to begin with).
Are laptops allowed in the university classrooms in your country? Are they allowed only for taking notes or for accessing the Internet as well?
~ Lucy
August 26th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Hi lucy,
Nice to see your new article.
this is my first time to write the passage here, i am happy to share my things with all showed up at Blog. I am from China, i know that we are still not rich enough to install the WIFI internet freely for our colleage stuents. Personally i don’t agree that student can take notes from internet.
Professional things shoud be done by the professional person, when the peope can catch all his attention, then the things could be done well.
Oh, forget to introduce myself, i am Goodie, now let me say Hello to everyone all over the world, i am the sales manager of a craft company in china.
best regards,
goodie
August 26th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Hi Goodie. And nice to meet you everyone! I’m a new face too. My name is meeho from Japan.
Wow, now I am really surprised that American college students are taking their notes by using their note computer!
Two monthes ago, a friend came to my country from California because of her short studying abroad program.
That time she stayed at my house and I watched she brought laptop! But I think it was required because she said she had to
write some reports. however, i do not think all of her friends [other students from America] brought their laptops to Japan.
I didn’t ask dose she use laptop daily at her univerity. umm.. i need to ask her..
In my university, we have our Internet site such as WIFI.
Students and professors use it and we are students use for getting entire information about the university; bulletin boad, syllabus and some resumes.
But students write down on their note in the class.
I also want to ask many countries’ people about their surroundings at the university classroom! :]
August 26th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Hi Lucy and Goodie,
Well, I particulary enjoy the idea of using laptops in the clasroom. I’m a student, and I like to write in detail what professors say. But the speed of my writing by hand is much restricted compared to the speed of my typing. So, I’d enjoy using a laptop as a notebook in the classroom, because I’d type everything I wanted.
For that reason, I’m against the laptop banning in classrooms, because I know how good is to use one. However, like Goodie, I’m in favour of professors turning off WiFi in their classrooms, given that Internet is a useless attention disturbing factor in a explanation.
Best regards,
Krompter
August 26th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Well,honestly I don’t know what to say,it’s unbelievable.If I was a professor at the university making an effort so that my students could learn something and I saw that some of them were surfing the net with their laptops I would get very angry and kick them out of the class if I could.It would be impossible teaching something while some of them are playing games and laughing at my back.In my opinion this behaviour is disrespectful and unacceptable.I don’t know if nowdays in my country (Spain),laptops are allowed at the university.I only studied until high school,but I hope not!
The laptops should be allowed for taking notes about the lecture of the professor, but not for chatting or dating online!!!
August 26th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Hi Goodie and you are welcome to this bolg.
About this article I think that laptops are a “tool” very important, but they must be used correctly. The same it happen with all things.
For instance, the cellphone is a tool very important too, but it shouldn’t use it into the classroom, neither a ball, nor a bike. Each thing has your time and your place. I’m writing this comment with my laptop and it’s very useful in this moment. In the clasroom is more useful pay atention to the teacher, althoug he/she were boring. Otherwise you will be an impolite and rude.
Greetings.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Hi Lucy,
In Germany you are allowed to bring your notebook to class and it is common that you have free WiFi access. Sometimes there are courses with 400 (and even more) students. In this case professors normally don’t tell the students to shut their notebooks down or leave the classroom instead. But it can happen very rarely. In another case there are only 20 students in the classroom and they won’t use their notebooks extensively.
Sometimes the professors even ask the students to use their notebooks in class and report about their findings!
I for myself take sometimes pictures of the professor’s notes on the blackboard with my digital camera and copy the files to my PC. Seconds later I can share these pictures with the other students online. That’s especially nice when the professor draws complex pictures/charts/… on the blackboard and you need full concentration to follow his course.
Best,
Hendrik
August 26th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
hi Lucy,
In my university, we are allowed to use wireless on the ground floor only.
So we cant surf the web in class (all our classrooms are upstairs).
We an use laptops in class to support presentation only.
My professors is very strict, if we talk or sleep in class we will be expelled from class immediately!
(though their lectures are boring!)
August 26th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Hi Lucy,
I don’t believe your lectures are boring. I can say it from your scripts here. Your class should be very interesting. In our university depend on professor, some of them say in the syllabus that you can not use it, but others are ok with that.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
When I was still a student like 10 years ago, we had neither laptops nor WiFi so it was not an issue then. We needed to take notes by hand writing, or, in case the professor talked really too speedy, we all took our tape recorders to the class, and jolted down what he said sentence by sentence by replaying the tape in the dormitory.
I think it is no good bringing laptops to class. Students will be too busy typing notes or distracted by the far more interesting world of internet and/or computer games. Lectures should be for interaction, communication, questions, all taking full concentration of the students. Capturing notes/ pictures/ charts by digital camera like what Hendrik does is ok. Students can leave the mechanical copying tasks to the cameras and focus their minds on the lectures. This is the difference between good and bad use of technology.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Hi everyone,
here in my country(Iran) i go to english class and our teachers ask us to use laptop and take note and use dictionary, that’s farster than handy dictionary(book).
Some libraries now have WiFi and students can surf the web there for their projects not during the class.
best wishes for all .
August 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Dear All,
I must say tks to you for welcoming me.
In order to learn more thing, i agree using different ways, like the camera, recorder. If we want to reach the destination, we can think about lot of ways, however firstly we need to repect others, this must be the basic thing that we should. According to this principle, then we can use any ways.
Lucy and Jeff, your class is very good, i have introduced it to my assisstants, who need to progress day by day with me. They are still poor at oral english. we thank you, we eagerly looking forward to meet you. can we have your photos
Hi Meeho, Hi Krompter, and hi everyone here, i wish you good luck.
best regards,
goodie
August 27th, 2008 at 8:40 am
I´m that is a polemic case. First, notebooks can help a lot giving us support during classes but is very easy to distract with someone else principally if you have restrict internet access. Ban it, isn´t the solution, we can´t be against technology use, we need to find ways to overcome that. Maybe more dynamic classes with specific softwares for support classes can help teacher to teach better and students to learn more.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Good eve. to you all,
I totally agree with that banning, it is really distracting and it is like the mobile phone.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Hi everyone from Venezuela.
I think that there is other way to take notes in class, the laptop maybe produce a distraction and you don’t understand anything. I use a mindmap to take notes, is very useful tool for learn.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Hi Lucy!
As my good countrywoman Soraia said; in our country just some progressed libraris have WiFi access. But still not in a vast area cause those libraries are not so enormous and unfortunately most of the comelling websites (like BBC PERSIAN and some other news sites) are filtered and it’s laborious to have access in our quotidian affairs. And about the universities and laptops although you can bring your laptop or mobile phone to class but it’s banned to use them and get distracted. DOCTOR LUCY I REALLYY WISH I COULD BE IN YOUR CLASS TO USE AND ENJOY YOUR BORING LECTURES, YEAH REALLY.
Wish you all the best
August 28th, 2008 at 4:45 am
who can define this meaning “A motion to suspend the rules” . thanks for help
August 28th, 2008 at 6:22 am
hi~ l’m from Korea. We can use the internet in the most classroom. however, Bring a laptop in classrooms is not common, I guess.
I can see sometimes that there are a few people who bring their own when they are extremely emergency situations, for example late homework, taking a note.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Well I can’t imagine a laptop in a classrooms, too much for my imagination. In fact I have been a teacher for some years, just teaching grammar and math. doing this extra work for five years more or less, and I was very serious in my classroom.
I alwas have in mind that is better to be watching to all what the teacher says, and asking him/her all we don’t understand. I think this is the best way of learning, and not writting so much notes. Only the neccesary to support the ideas given by the teacher.
Goodie, Meeho, you are wellcome to this friendly blog.
Same as Mehdiy I really wish to have been in your class Lucy, sure it had to be a great pleasure being there listening to you with all my mind open to your lectures, and of course writting nothing, only listening and looking at you.
By the way, are we going to see you, Lucy?. We all hope so.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Hi!
I study at USP-Brazil and in my campus we also have wi-fi in the entire campus. The question about banning laptops or not is really new, so there’s no official rule for it. It deppends wether the professor allow it or not. However, from my experience, most of the professors are banning our laptops in their classes and I really approve it. Using laptops during classes distracts not only the user, but also the other students around s/he.
August 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hi everybody!!! I am a student and in all my classes I can use my laptop, is the best tool that we have, we can complement our class material surfing in the internet. If you really want to learn you can’t be distracted by anything, although you are using a laptop on classes.
Daniel Chavarria from COSTA RICA, CENTRAL AMERICA.
August 30th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Hi everybody!
I’m from Brazil and I study at Unibratec and in my campus we have wi-fi.
Unibratec is IT University and we really need to study with a laptop, but some professors don’t appreciate it.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Hi every one.I am Long from Viet Nam. I completely agree that laptops should be used in the right time and the right place , that is right attitude to others or the right culture,it’s unacceptable when professors giving lectures while students playing games,chatting,or doing some else…
Hope you all think that too.
Bye
Best Regards
September 1st, 2008 at 8:28 am
Hi everybody. Is the first time I write here, so I want to introduce myself, my name is Sancho and I’m writting from Spain. About this topic I would like to say, It seems me unbelievable. I can’t understand how the proffessors in USA allow lastop in class while they are explaining some topics. In Spain, in my university there is wifi connection two years ago… but is not allowed to use it during the classroom. It can be very bad for your final score!!!
Regards,
Sancho.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I don’t think it’s so hard to understand for this. Nearly everyone have a loptop or PC for current students, and the point is how to use it. Someone use it to get more knowledge and getting familar with the environment out of school. It is good for these students to use laptop. But sames like that most students use it to play games.
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:18 am
It is a very interesting question. I think, if it is not necessary for a teacher to use laptops by students, he should ban it. When a student comes to a lecture, he has to conform to the rules. If he wants to surf on the web, he has to stay at home or go to the internet café. But on the lecture a student has to get knowledge and this is his job. If a student understands the lecture is not interesting for him, so boring, he can not go there and surfs the web. But if he makes a choice to attend a class, he should show respect to his professor even it is a boring lecture.
Unfortunately, in Ukrainian universities you have to attend even boring lectures, because many professors make notes of their lecture’s attendance and it can influence your mark or you can have certain problems passing exam. For example, you can get additional question on the lecture you missed or you can write a work on the theme of missed lecture.
We do not have a problem with using laptops in the classroom. There is no WiFi Internet access in the most Ukrainian universities.
October 14th, 2008 at 4:00 am
Hello Lucy
First, I’d like to thank you and Jeff for what you are doing and have done for us, it’s a piece of hard work and from my point of view, this website is one of the most useful ones for foreign students. Nevertheless, I’d like to comment what you’ve asked for.
Here in the Czech republic, students are not only allowed to bring their laptops to the university, back in the days I can remember I was even allowed to use it on high-school. The WiFi connection network here in Prague (CZ capital) is quite dense, personal high-school WiFis are not an exception. It depends, teacher may like it or not and he can either deny or allow using it. But when in Uni, you can do it the way you like as long as you come out with some results.
Joey
March 11th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
hi lucy,
Its quite interesting question,but I feel that you can see from professors point of view because they are also not interested to teach you .They also get distracted, so you use only for personal notes not do other things.