Students welcome law school prof's ban on laptops

Laptops may be a blessing for law students who take copious notes in class, but one law professor has banished them from his classroom, reports the Wall Street Journal

Citing students' lack of attention due to the many distractions offered on the Internet, Prof. David Cole is making his students take notes the old fashioned way. He states two reasons for the ban.

Note-taking on a laptop encourages verbatim transcription. The note-taker tends to go into stenographic mode and no longer processes information in a way that is conducive to the give and take of classroom discussion. Because taking notes the old-fashioned way, by hand, is so much slower, one actually has to listen, think and prioritize the most important themes."

Laptops create temptation to surf the Web, check e-mail, shop for shoes or instant-message friends. That's not only distracting to the student who is checking Red Sox statistics [or the WSJ Law Blog!] but for all those who see him . . . doing something besides being involved in class. Together, the stenographic mode and Web surfing make for a much less engaged classroom, and that affects all students . . . ."

Not all of his colleagues agree with Cole's ban, but a surprising number of his students support it. A survey found that 80% say they're more engaged; 70% like the policy; and 95% admit that when they have their laptop in class, they use them to surf the Web, IM, etc.