Effects Of Laptop Usage On The Classroom

There’s no denying that technology has grown to play a major role in education and learning. Students are using laptops, tablets, and smartphones to research, complete, and even collaborate on assignments, both in and outside of the classroom. Timothy D. Snyder and Thomas L. Friedman both have written articles expressing their opposing opinions on technology in the classroom. Timothy Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale University who has written five different award-winning books. In his article, “Why Laptops Are Distracting America’s Future Workforce”, Snyder explains to students and teachers why he is against technology in the classroom. Thomas Friedman is a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, author of six award-winning

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.

Technology in the classroom is important for teachers, parents, and students alike, because technology use has become a necessary skill for survival in today’s vastly expanding technology driven global economy. Research has shown an increase in student’s success rates when exposed to technology in the classroom. Also technology has opened lines of communication between educators and parents to keep students on track, and help teachers educate better.

In defense of laptops in the classroom” Summary/Analysis/Response (SAR) Paper Summary “In defense of laptops in the classroom” written by Rebecca Schuman, talks about the issue of why computers should be allowed in a college classroom. Schuman explains how people of the new generation use computers in classrooms doing almost everything in college now, rather it be taking notes or accessing course material, and it's more affordable for poorer students. Analysis Schuman attempts to use logos, structuring of her article, and has a good purpose to persuade readers of her agreement. Schuman wrote this article “In defense of laptops in the classroom” in order to persuade professors why computers should be allowed in the classroom and how you can combat them if the student isn’t paying attention, plus they are more affordable for poorer students because they’re covered by financial aid. Schuman focuses on this group of audience primarily because some professors do not like computers in their classroom rather it be because the student isn’t paying attention or is using the computer for non-class related things. Schuman attempts to reason the discussion of why computers should be allowed in the class is that it’s completely up to the student whether they use it for good or not. Schuman makes the point early on that she feels that the computer is not faulty, but rather the student who makes the decision on what use to use the computer for. Schuman exemplifies this problem when she

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

Which includes less time on my phone texting, or any social media sites. This relates back to Margaret Soltan’s essay “Better Living Through Consciousness: Why You Should Take Your College Education Seriously”, she discusses how technology should be limited to reduce distraction of students. She wrote “Students are gazing at all manner of stuff on their laptops (and in doing so distracting those students trying to pay attention to the front of the room); professors are staring down at their PowerPoint slides and reading the words on them aloud. In some classrooms, professors report that groups of students are gathering in various corners to watch films together on someone’s screen while the professor attempts to lecture”. Many students use technology whether it’s a laptop, cell phone or IPad almost every class period you will find at least one student on a device.

“In defense of laptops in the classroom” written by Rebecca Schuman, talks about the issue of why computers should be allowed in a college classroom. Schuman explains how people of the new generation use computers in classrooms to do almost everything in college now, rather it be taking notes or accessing course material, and its more affordable for poorer students.

Sana, Weston, & Cepeda (2013), Laptop multitasking hinders learning for both users and nearby peers. Computers & Education 62 (2013): 24-31.

The article “In Defence of Laptops in the Classroom” by Rebecca Schuman, a university professor, offers a different perspective to the banning of laptops in academics. She argues that while it might be distracting, it is ultimately the student’s own attitude towards education that dictates the effectiveness of electronics in the classroom. As the title suggests, Schuman argues that laptops have a place in the modern day classroom. She emphasises how the current generation lives in an age that “doesn’t learn to write by hand” (5) and argues that it is impossible to separate technology from learning.

In the article "Can Students Have Too Much Tech?" Susan Pinker explains the pros and cons of technology in the classroom. Her argument is supplemented by Studies from Duke University and Stanford University. She also utilized the history of the One Laptop per child nonprofit, along with her own research and opinions.

She made use of the various studies that had been conducted on students (eg. Cornell, 2003 and Fred, 2006) to meet eye-to-eye in accepting that it has been an ongoing debate to ban laptops. However, she gave examples that make us think and accept that banning laptops is not the only way. Her usage of her own experience as a professor conducting classes using the laptops for “regularly planned activities” (Para 9) showed the positive use of laptops in class. She also described “teaching a 13th-grade classroom” (Para 7) as a college class. It is hard to imagine that college students will still act like children that do not think for themselves.

Ellen Granberg and James Witte discuss the positive results achieved by two professors who used laptops in social science classes in “Teaching with Laptops for the First Time: Lessons from a Social Science Classroom.” Granberg and Witte begin by describing how “the development of inexpensive laptop computers along with the growing availability of wireless networking has made it much more feasible to bring this technology to the social science classroom” (51). Initially, Granberg and Witte claim, computers only suited problem-based disciplines such as mathematics. However, they argue that laptops have now become applicable to the social sciences. Next, Granberg and Witte illustrate two experiments with laptops. In the first situation, a professor

Transferring the teaching method from out of the textbook to laptops can be very distracting. Of course all electronic devices come with games or at least some application you can download. The Students will be able to access many apps including; games, email, social media, and instant messaging classmates (Hurst). Even without this change, students are already constantly on their phones texting or playing games during classes. Do we really want to have more distractions?

Today, many campuses offer free Wi-Fi internet access in all classrooms. However, students abuse the advantage of Wi-Fi internet availability and misuse their laptops in ways that prevents them to engage and concentrate in class. Carrie B. Fried’s points out that although her research demonstrated that laptops are an effective learning tool, there was more suggestive evidence to ban laptops in class because they detract students from learning. Based on her research results, she concluded that students learning are negatively related to in-class laptop use because students spent “considerable time multitasking and that laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students” (Computers and Technologies Journal). With Wi-Fi networks, it allows students to use the internet and do non-course related activities: check emails, play online games, visit social media networks such as Facebook and Blogger, and instant message other friends inside and outside of their current classroom. Students performing non course related activities on their laptops distract their fellow classmates as well. A student who misuses their laptop hinders their own learning as well as the learning of peers who are using their laptops appropriately. A student watching a comedy and smiling can distract another classmates’ learning and the disrespect the professor who is struggling to teach.

The article focuses on the distraction of mobile devices in the college classroom. Brenner explains that they are distracting to not only the person using them, but the people around them as well. Through her research, she found that the people sitting next to multitaskers on their laptops tended to score lower on tests than those without the distraction. On that note, she states that people “are not wired to multi task”. Through a study, she found that texting during lectures caused a decrease in student’s ability to take notes, pay attention, and perform well on tests. She also found that the use of laptops