By Alex Hubbard, Brittany Rodriguez, Mollie Bennett and Megan Peyton

As technology develops and becomes more portable than ever, students are faced with a choice of whether or not to take their laptops to class. Laptops can be a useful tool for speedy note taking but they can also be a distraction. The question is, should laptops be allowed in class and what role do they play?

For students, laptops offer the best of both worlds. They are a medium to take faster, more efficient notes, but also provide an alternative activity for more boring classes.

“I bring my laptop to class if I need to take notes on lots of information because I am much faster at typing than writing,” said senior Erin Aelvoet. “But I also bring it if I am in a class that I don’t need to take notes in so I can surf the Internet.”

If a professor were to sit at the back of the class, he or she would probably find that practically every student using a laptop is doing something other than taking notes. Even those diligently copying the information from PowerPoint slides are toggling back and forth between notes and Facebook.

This diversion of attention does not go unnoticed by teachers.

“I sit in on many classes at the University and in all instances, I observe students at non-class related websites, such as Facebook, Youtube, Webmail etc. during lecture,” said Jennifer Fritz, a lecturer at the College of Natural Sciences. As a result of her observations, Dr. Fritz has a strict no-laptop policy in her classroom.

“I disallow laptops and cell phones primarily because I cannot compete for student attention when they are on the computer,” said Dr. Fritz. “This is for the student themselves as well as all the other students in the class that can see their computer.”

Other teachers view this diversion of attention in a different way.

“I welcome students with laptops and portable devices,” said Mike Dewey, a lecturer in the Department of Journalism. “It’s true that students will work on their computers sometimes instead of paying attention, but when I see faces go blank and students type on their computers and phones, I know that I’m not engaging them. It’s a signal to me to do a better job.”

Regardless of the differing views among students and teachers, so far the University has not expressed any plans to administer sweeping policies regarding laptop or cell phone use in class.

Technology in Class: Teachers Fed Up

Laptops are not the only technology students are using in class. Cell phones with internet access and text messaging are proving to be their own distraction in the classroom. Students can be seen with their heads down texting away during lectures, even in smaller classes.

One professor, deciding she’d had enough, actually took a phone from the hands of a student. Senior Layne Rouse was in her Sociology class when her professor, after seeing a student in the front row on his iPhone, approached the student and took the phone from him.

The professor tossed the phone onto a spare table at the front of the room, where it landed loudly and flipped onto its face.

“It was really shocking because the phone made a really loud thud and it was so unexpected,” Rouse said.

The teacher did, however, return the iPhone to the student.

“At the end of class she gave the phone back to him and kind of jokingly said “if you’re going to text, be smarter than to sit in the front row,” said Rouse.

The Changing Face of the Classroom

Dr. Keri Stephens and students at the University of Texas provide insight about information and communication technologies in the classroom

For more information about Dr. Stephens and her research, click here.