For some reason, laptops in law school are still red-headed stepchildren. There are still professors who won’t let students take exams on laptops. Some state bar exams do not allow the use of a computer. And then there is the firestorm that is banning laptops from the classroom.
Be More Interesting
I am completely sympathetic to Elie’s points about the failure of law professors to hold their students’ attention for an hour to 90 minutes at a time. I had a friend in law school who calculated that each class period cost about $400. The fact that a professor couldn’t convince students that their information was worth listening to after prepaying that amount shows how bad teaching talent is in law schools.
But much worse than not being able to entertain students is the fact that many of these laptop bans are akin to a bait & switch.
Truth In Advertising
I have no problem if a professor wants to ban laptops for whatever reason. I think it’s foolish, but it’s their perogative. Hell, if a new law school launched with a model of no laptops, business formal dress, standing when cold-called, and hired the oldest, grouchiest professors they could find, I’d be all for it. I think the “Back In Time School of Hard Knocks” Law School could be successful.
The problem is that most students sign up for a class with certain expectations. One of those expectations is that, unless otherwise stated, learning tools like a laptop are permitted. I’m sure in some cases that the ability of professors to ban laptops is not addressed in school policy, which would lead law students of all people to believe it was a right to have them in class.
Laptop bans arise mid-semester when a professor notices people not paying attention or when a student’s activities end up disrupting either their neighbors or the entire class. In a fit of frustration, laptops are gone. Now the class is different than the one you signed up for.
When you signed up, everyone was on a level playing field of getting to use their chosen note-taking tool. When a professor bans laptops, he or she gives an advantage to notetakers who write in longhand. A huge advantage in fact because now the laptop users need to switch to handwriting midstream rather than from the beginning of the term.
Allow Merit to Succeed
One basic rule of law school administration should be to never make a decision that makes grading more arbitrary or unfair. Banning laptops is just that sort of decision. It gives an advantage to people more comfortable with handwriting notes. Imagine the uproar if a school forced students to use a computer. The less-computer literate students would be at the dean’s office with torches and pitchforks in no time.
Above all, I agree with this quote from a Villanova student:
I am extremely pissed about this policy for one basic reason — I am paying over 35K a year to be at Villanova and should be able to use every learning tool possible to maximize my education. If people want to IM in class, that is their business, but don’t penalize me.
The student also hits on the second reason this decision muddles the grading waters. If a student is able to use a learning tool to their advantage (by taking better notes), they should be rewarded over students who use it to their disadvantage (by ignoring the professor). Laptop bans coddle the distracted and bored while punishing the interested and engaged.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Definitely agree with you on the whole. I threw a blog post up last year about this very issue after witnessing a few students (whilst studying for my LLM) using their laptops in lectures to surf about or otherwise waste time.
From the comments I received to the post, feelings were very mixed => http://lawactually.blogspot.com/2009/02/laptops-in-lectures.html
BTW: I’ve added you to my US blogroll over at Law Actually!