Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away

The article written by Timothy D. Snyder in 2010 titled, “Why Laptops in Class Are Distracting America’s Future Workforce” is a persuasive article. His purpose in writing this article was to persuade professors to ban laptops in the classroom because he feels they are a distraction. Snyder’s arguments against the use of laptops in classrooms are convincing, but he lacks evidence to support his stance and he uses emotionally charge wording to sway the reader.

When writing a paper or take notes it's better to use a computer or laptop because it

In response to the article “Attention Students: Put Your Laptops Away”, my opinion on the

The research article “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking” was written by Pam A. Muller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer, and published by the Psychological Science in 2014. The article focuses on a series of previous research on the topic and studies with the goal of providing evidence to answer their two main questions. The first question is which one the two note taking strategies works better and increases academic performance longhand note taking or laptop note taking. The second question is how verbatim overlap (word for word) affects our learning. In the article, three studies were conducted similarly but as the studies were made something new was added to explore new aspects of learning.

Nicholas Carr in the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” states “I can feel it, too. Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going--- so far as I can tell--- but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think.” This quote shows us how people are being affected by spending too much time using new technologies such as texting. Texting really does impact the way people think. While students are in school, they tend to write some of their paper in text form. This is because they are so used to using their phones and using the short texting forms that they forget how to actually write. I had this happen to me before. For example, in one of my English classes I had to write a quick one page essay on a book we were assigned to read. I started to write and once I finished I felt like it was pretty good. So, when I went back to proof read it, I realized that half of my paper was in short text form. I could not believe that I had done that. After I corrected all of my mistakes I turned in my paper. I was so glad that I looked over my essay before turning it in. Also, students would rather be on their phones than learning in school. While I am sitting in class, I always see people looking at their phones and not paying attention. Texting in class could cause you to fail and you would have to take the class over

This is in contrast to writing down large amounts of data or listening to a lecture where either repetitive reading of material or frequent note taking was required.

The article “The Writings on the Screen” by Tiffany O’Callaghan talks about how this generation reads more frequently, and the style of writing has changed immensely. Tiffany also talks about how taking notes by hand rather than a computer will help you understand the topics of the lecture, and also help you retain the information. She emphasizes on the fact that using a laptop for an educational purpose is problematic, and distracting, not only to yourself, but to others around you. This article also talks about how writing by hand forces your brain to process the information you heard.

I think Birkerts is right when he says education has changed. In school teachers are showing power points and slideshows to their students, which is very hard to write down notes. The advantages of having slides are the students can listen to their teacher instead of writing down notes which saves

In the article Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away by NPR gives the evidence that taking notes by hand helps you retain the information better than transcribing them on a computer. The went on to present the findings of a study by Mueller and Oppenheimer, two college professors. The professors write “ This is suggestive evidence that longhand notes may have a superior external storage as well as superior encoding functions” (NPR, 2). This clearly suggests that their findings lead to the conclusion that longhand notes are more successful. In cessation, NPR showcases the undeniable fact that handwritten notes receive a more preferable outcome for students.

Throughout school, students are taught to handwrite notes. In college, many students transition from handwritten notes to electronic notes, such as on tablets and laptops. In the article “Attention Students: Put Your Laptops Away”, National Public Radio, or NPR, explains that although many students prefer taking notes on their electronics, handwritten notes have been proven to be much more effective despite technology.

Psychologists have learned that it it easier for a students to take hand written note to help them instead of typing, but neither typing nor printing involve you to use both sides of your brain. My personal experience involed it all. I was taught how to print,cursive, and type on a keyboard. I defiently think it helps your brain become stonger.

“In Defense of Laptops in the Classroom” by Rebecca Schuman is an article that aims to put across a point that the attitude of the students in class is a decision for the students to make. She states that being a “Laptop Police” (Para 2) – played by the professors – can be helpful to the students in learning but it is also stopping the students from making their own decisions when it comes to the attitude of learning. Schuman had presented her article in a positive stand where she does not disagree with other professors’ idea of banning laptops in class to improve learning. Instead, she is trying to convince us that the professors’ decisions will not make a significant change in the attitude of the students. She states a point where the attitude of the students is entirely “their responsibility” (Para 10).

After completing the questionnaire, VARK identified the read/write style as the preferred method of learning for this author. According to the VARK database (2011), 27% of people are read/write learners (Fleming, n.d.). These types of learners prefer to access information from written materials such as books, handouts, articles, or dictionaries. Reading the printed information and writing notes are methods used “as their first preference for taking in information” (Fleming, 1995, p. 2). Alexandra & Georgeta (2011) state, “People who prefer this modality are often addicted to PowerPoint, the Internet, lists, and words” (p. 579). The read/write learners make good traditional learners because most schools assign some form of reading to teach new material. Additionally, these students may do well in an online classroom

During the last decades, laptops have become standard learning tools in university and college classrooms. Since today’s students’ are high-technology demanding and tech savvy, laptops manufacturers and engineers are constantly thinking of unique ways to design their products. With advanced functions and specifications, laptops can do various activities and educational tasks for students. Also, as technology advances, yesterday’s laptops are less expensive compared to today’s and tomorrow’s which allows every student to afford a laptop. However, educational institutions are concern about whether laptops in class hinder or facilitate students’ learning. Overtime, new technology and devices have been noticed to weaken student performance in

(Bui in Aragon-Mendizabal 2016) This is because cognitive processing is shallower when using a keyboard. (Mueller and Oppenheimer 2014) Most typists tend to take notes verbatim, (Kiewra in Holz 2016) leading to very superficial levels of actual understanding. (Aragon- Mendizabal 2016) On the contrary, higher order thinking such as attention and memory are required when people take hand written notes. (Aragon- Mendizabal 2016) When taking notes longhand, writers must summarize, paraphrase, and relate concepts to one another in order to record the information in a timely enough manner. (University Wire 2016) Also, proofreading abilities are reduced on typed work, possibly due to the over usage of tools such as grammar and spelling check. (Lessien 2013) Success for students who hand write is documented not only for college students, but for young learners as well.