Laptops in College

Does employing the use of laptops aid students in their college career? Or are Laptops a distraction that needs to be banned from classrooms? Laptops are relatively a modern piece of twenty-first century technology and there is no doubt that they provide certain benefits during a student’s college career. They can be an effective piece of technology in almost all majors and programs in college. However, laptops can also be a disadvantage for students attending college and thus, laptops becomes a liability.

Perhaps the most important benefit laptops offer to students is that they are relatively simple devices to operate. A student merely opens his laptop, installs a wireless card, and turns on the machine in order to get it to function. This simplicity allows anyone; even those who are not experienced with computers, to be able too use a laptop.

Laptops also have the capability too perform numerous tasks. Students can use laptops too study for exams and complete assignments; while professors can use laptops to post lectures on a website for students to read. This saves a significant amount of time for students because they don’t have to be concerned anymore about taking down notes in class; consequently they pay more attention to what the professor is demonstrating or explaining and they tend to learn better (Silva, 2006).

Laptops provide social interaction for students as well. For example, when students are assigned to present an oral presentation, they can brainstorm and strategize online by using AIM or another form of communication software. This is especially true if students cannot meet physically because they have: other classes, work, study groups, other assignments, need to study for an exam, etc. In addition, if a member of a group missed class, their fellow group members can inform him/her on what he/she missed via e-mail, AIM, Facebook, Myspace, etc. Online social interactions will allow a student too make friends more easily, especially if he/she is shy around other people. Since most laptops are wireless, internet access should be relatively easy.

Wireless laptops can make a classroom less hazardous because there will be no cords all over the floor for students to stumble and injure themselves. In addition, wireless networks are less expensive than a wired system because there are fewer devices planted throughout the facility that are necessary for internet access (Komando, 2005). Students can eliminate the need to locate a jack or unravel the cord while they move from classroom to classroom.

Laptops are also portable which makes them easy to carry around and fit in their book bags or crammed dorms. They can also be used for entertainment purposes, especially if students are dorming on campus (Komando, 2005). Since most students can’t afford a television or other types of entertainment systems, a laptop is a convenient way to view movies since it plays most types of DVD’s. It also allows them to download music files too their Ipods or other MP3 devices. Furthermore, if a student has a long flight back home, he/she can pull out their laptop and view a movie, play a game, or listen too music while on the plane.

Not only do laptops benefit students, but professors seem to find them more convenient as well. Numerous English professors are now requiring their students too bring laptops to class. They feel that laptops can encourage students to be more “productive” in their assignments and research papers. In addition, they explain that they provide students with more resources because of the internet and programs such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. Programs such as these can assist in research activities or help improve a student’s writing.

For example, Microsoft Word, which is a common program among laptops, has several techniques already installed that automatically correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. It also has abilities such as background color, templates, and font, which can be used to make a paper more elegant or lavish. Some professors currently require students too keep an online journal or blog. Since laptops are convenient portable devices, students can write anywhere at anytime; whether it is under a tree, in the cafeteria, their dorm, or in their car.

Despite all of these benefits and advantages laptops provide for college students, laptops have their share of disadvantages as well. Laptops can be a distraction for students because they can tempt students to chat on AIM or surf the internet while their professor is a giving a lecture. Michelle Mei, who attends classes at Bentley College, claims that “if it’s material that I know, most of the time I will surf the internet a little bit” (Young, 2006). Some students also use class time to write research papers or complete online assignments for other professors. As a result, students miss some critical information and inevitably, they may perform poorly on an exam.

Laptops also have several mechanical disadvantages. For example, most laptops require a battery and a charger and if the battery ceases to function, the laptop will turn off automatically and students can lose valuable files if they weren’t saved. This is especially true if there are no power outlets in a classroom for students to charge the batteries on their laptops.

Students may also face the dilemma of acquiring decent signal strength for their wireless connection to the internet. Weak signals tend to make the internet slower and students may be forced to travel around campus in order to acquire a strong signal. Computer viruses, which are malicious programs that can cause a laptop to malfunction, can be a problem for a laptop as well. If a laptop were to “catch” a virus, the student can lose critical data and all of his academic work on the laptop can be in jeopardy.

Students may also face financial dilemmas in maintaining a laptop. Due too the portability of laptops, they tend to get damaged easily if students are not cautious. For example, some students carry their laptops with their hands; if they climb up a flight of stairs, they may accidentally drop their laptop and fracture them. Also, if someone were too accidentally spill water on a student’s laptop, it can critically damage the major components of the laptop and will cease to function properly.

It can cost a tremendous amount of money for a student to repair damages or purchase a new laptop. In addition, most laptops require anti-virus software in order to protect them from malicious viruses. Computer viruses are malignant programs which infect a laptop and cause them too malfunction. These anti-virus software’s can cost up to two hundred dollars each and they require renewal each year.

Statistics show that a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds in the United States and ninety-seven percent of these laptops are never recovered. Universities are now being targeted by criminals who seek to steal laptops from students. “A security investigator at Concordia University estimates that one laptop a week is stolen at the University” (Cheng, 2007). This usually results in cases of identity theft, especially if there is personal information stored in the laptop such as social security numbers, date of birth, PIN numbers, etc. Furthermore, Credit cards and bank accounts can be accessed to purchase materials or withdraw money for the thief.

In an attempt to confront these issues, some professors are now banning laptops from their classrooms. Professors argue that the devices are too much of a distraction that causes students to lose their concentration and reduce their participation efforts in class (Young, 2006). They claim that students cannot matriculate well if they are busy chatting online with their friends or playing a video game. Educational institutions such as Harvard Law School have banned laptops for the first time this year because of these distractions that laptops have caused.

In addition, a few colleges such as Bentley College have set up systems that give professors the ability too disable internet access while the professor is giving a lecture. This software allows professors to choose any of the following settings in their classroom: turn off internet access but allow e-mail access, turn off e-mail access but allow internet access, shut off all access, or allow all access (Young, 2006).

Professor Aylesworth, a professor at Bentley College, does not hesitate to use this software because he says “I get so frustrated with students at one point that I have no choice but to shut off all access” (Young, 2006). However, some students have managed too find a solution to this dilemma by picking up wireless signals from nearby classrooms who have not disabled any access.

Some professors also feel that laptops are a physical barrier to the students that needs to be removed from the classroom. For example, Professor June Entman, a law professor at the University of Memphis, argues that when students have their laptop lids open, she cannot make eye contact with them which hampers her efforts to create a learning flow in the classroom.

Students counter this argument by claiming that they can balance the use of the laptop and classroom participation. They also feel that professors should allow the use of laptops in class as a sign of trust too the students. As Nasrut Mahmud, a sophomore student at Bentley’s College said, “anyways it’s the student’s responsibility to keep up with the material” (Young, 2006).
Some professors support that notion because they feel students should learn to “juggle online and offline worlds, since students are likely to carry those same laptops into corporate environments in the future” (Young, 2006).

A recent survey of a thousand students at Harvard University said that if a laptop ban was enforced, only one out four students would attend class. Students claim that they shouldn’t be treated as young kids who need too be constantly reminded what is acceptable and what is not (Silva, 2006). Additionally, enforcing a laptop would be difficult because of the constantly evolving nature of technology. If one network is disabled, students can easily log on to another service provider.

Some professors claim that laptops aren’t too blame for the decrease in student participation in a classroom. Instead, they claim it is the quality of the education that is the true culprit. Students cannot participate in a class discussion if the lecture a professor is giving is dull and uninteresting. They explain that this is the real reason students seek distractions from laptops; in order to keep themselves busy.

So, do laptops benefit students in their college career? Or are they a distraction that should be banned from classrooms? These were the majority viewpoints from professors and students about whether or not laptops benefit a student’s college career. Despite the fact that colleges such as Bentley and Harvard Law School have banned laptops from certain classrooms, the majority of Universities and Colleges throughout the United States continue too allow students to operate laptops on their campus. In fact, institutions such as St. John's University, provide student’s with their own laptop during orientation. Some professors and students jointly profess that the decision about whether or not students should use laptops as a means to further their educational career, should entirely be up to each individual student.