In Defense Of Laptops In The Classroom

Is technology a distraction to students or are we, the students, bringing upon ourselves to get distracted through technology, specifically laptops? Why do people want to demand updated technology in the first place? It is simply because technology is dynamic in which provide numerous information to us to enhance our knowledge and help us accomplish various tasks. As technology is improving, using technology is irresistible to students’ later lives due to our society and technology combing together. The innovative technology is merely a neutral tool that we, students, can choose to use anyway we wish. In the article In Defense of Laptops in the Classroom, Rebecca Schuman states that banning laptops would not teach 13th-graders, college students,
Perry Samson, techno-optimist, who implemented the LectureTools technology to enhance interaction between his students and professor is in between of techno-determinist and social determinist. The effect of technology system will have impact on society; the behavior or other factors of society will influence the technology. Implementing LectureTools brought positive outcome that both technology system and students collectively combined to earn benefit. (Samson, 2010) In contrast, Genuinely, reflecting on what Cindi May addressed, she is far more on the techno-pessimist due to arguing that there is a limit to typing note. Although, typing note can save time to write more and write everything that professor lectures, writing note by hand exercise cognitive work by synthesizing the materials. (May, 2014) In fact, it allows “brain to engage in some heavy mental lifting and these efforts foster comprehension and retention.” (May, 2014) Therefore, she is a social determinist who believes that outcome of our own engaging in mental work is stronger than the outcome of using technology. However, she is aware of the advantage side of typing note and she believes it is not much effective due to students not thinking once again to encode the material. By
After reading those articles, through my experiences in college, I was able to vividly retrospect my behaviors and results from using or not using technology. When I first joined college, my friends and I had new laptops carrying around to school taking note with them. Due to ban laptop policy in high school, I was so pleased that I got to look at my computer screen and write down what professor said. Sometimes, I stray out from the lecture and spent time doing other unnecessary activity, but I did not think that it was because of my laptop. Even if I don’t have my laptop around me, sometimes I zone out thinking about something else. I believe that regardless of using technology devices, it is my own or students’ responsibility to manage and pay attention in any