Class laptops hurt learning?

An excellent article in Ars Technica pokes holes in the notion that laptops facilitates better learning in the classroom. The article states that the success of laptops in the classroom has been at best mixed. While studies have shown that students using laptops do develop better writing skills, laptops have had an inconsistent impact in science, math or other disciplines. The article states:

[T]he benefits of 1:1 laptop availability are mixed. Different studies have found changes in math and science test performance that were inconsistent. In general, the authors argue, the benefits of laptops come in cases where the larger educational program has been redesigned to incorporate their unique capabilities, and the teachers have been trained in order to better integrate laptop use into the wider educational experience. Both of these processes are resource-intensive, and the degree of their success may vary from classroom to classroom even in a single school, which is likely to explain the wide variability in the results.

Further, the article points out how much of a distraction a laptop can be in the classroom. From students using their computers to send instant messages or even watch movies, laptops unfortunately compete for a student’s attention. It’s gotten to be such a bad problem that some college professors ban their use from their lecture hall or strictly monitor their student’s laptop usage.

These are serious issues, and the Ars article does point out that simply elminating laptops from the classroom isn’t the solution. Students can type faster than they can write, so the laptop has become the favored medium to take notes. Further, the new generation of students are as comfortable with technology as many older students are with pen and paper, and expect access to such technology in any educational environment. State and federal  iniatives have also embraced laptops in the classrooms as many educators aim to have every student possess a laptop of their own in the somewhat naive belief that the mere possession of a computer will give the student the skills necessary to compete in a  job market that is increasingly dependent on technical knowledge.

So what’s to be done? The Ars article describes a solution developed by one university professor where she registers the heavy laptop users and starts tracking their grades. If there’s signs that laptop use is affecting their grades, she points it out to them, leaving it to the students to modify their behavior. Another educators simply suggests putting all laptop users in the back of the classrooms so they only distract themselves and not other users.

Though I’m not an educator, I’d like to suggest a few solutions used by businesses, who have long dealt with some of the social ramifications of technology.

1. Emphasize that in the classroom, laptops should be for educational uses only and make it school policy. Non-educational uses of laptops inside the classroom should be prohibited. Students caught watching movies or playing games during class will be asked to remove the laptop from the classroom. Repeat violators will have their laptops subject to confiscation.  Just having a policy in place and understood should reduce (though not completely eliminate) unwanted laptop use all by itself.
2. Monitor Internet usage. While savvy students will figure out ways to get around Internet filters, the very idea that they are being monitored will cause students to be more careful about how they use computers. At the very least, it will force some students to learn computer skills to get around the filters.
3. Allow for online participation. By having the laptop as the medium in which a student can see an educator’s lecture, I think you’ll find that students will pay more attention. Sure, they can choose not tune in or play a game while the lecture is running, but those will be the same students who will skip classes anyways. There’s an element of trust with such an arrangement, but businesses bet their entire businesses to staff who are reachable only via computer and the telephone. If businesses can do it, educators can do it as well.

Via Ars Technica.

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