Editorial: Power off laptops in class

If Pitt were to ban laptops in its lecture halls, you’d likely fall in one of two categories:… If Pitt were to ban laptops in its lecture halls, you’d likely fall in one of two categories: you’d either be upset that you could no longer play solitaire during your really boring lectures or you’d be happy you were no longer distracted by those kids who play solitaire during your really boring lectures.

George Washington University and the University of Virginia are attempting to squelch the large number of students who surf the web during class by banning laptop use from some of their lecture halls, according to the Huffington Post.

Although we don’t approve of all classrooms prohibiting laptops, we think certain classes could benefit from such a ban.

Some classes definitely benefit from laptop use. For example, having the Web can allow students to look up current events in political science classes. In addition, professors can help cut back on paper by allowing students to view lecture notes and PowerPoint slides online. Also, Pitt’s Book Center offered 100 e-textbooks in the fall, which would become difficult to use in class under a laptop ban.

Of course, we think students need to take some responsibility and use their laptops respectfully during class time. It’s rude to be typing away on Facebook chat when your professor or classmates are speaking.

And of equal importance is the need to recognize that your laptop might hinder instead of help your performance in certain classes.

According to The Times Online, a U.K. news site, “Studies have found that ‘multitasking’ actually impedes learning and that laptops distract not only the user but also those sitting near by.”

Although some laptop users might argue that, since they are paying to be here, the University shouldn’t be able to tell them whether or not they can use electronic devices, we feel the same thing could be argued of attendance policies. And in the end, you’re going to be better off attending class. While you’re there, you might as well pay attention. You can play World of Warcraft when you get back to your apartment or dorm.

Finally, rather than ban laptops entirely, we think professors who are bothered by non-class-related laptop use would benefit from enforcing strict grade-reducing policies for every offense. For example, professors could threaten to drop a student a letter grade for engaging in non-class-related laptop activities. After all, are those pictures from this weekend that your friend posted on Facebook really worth more than a passing grade in a class you’re paying to take? We don’t think so.

We recommend powering off for a little bit and learning something.