Laptops in the Classroom

Today, laptop computers in the classroom are very controversial. Are they beneficial or do they just cause harm? There are several pros and cons, but in my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons. In today’s society and school systems, most everything is going online such as resources, teacher notes, and class information. I think that it is beneficial to be able to use laptops in the classroom. The reason for this is because it is much easier to write your notes and thoughts down when typing rather than shuffling through papers. Also by typing your notes on a computer you are saving the environment and also the costs of printing.
Although I believe that laptops are good in the classroom I don’t think that they should be allowed until your junior year of high school. The reason for this is because by your junior year you are an upperclassman and also most likely taking college prep classes. Before your junior year in high school you are working on your required classes for graduation, and still in the emergence of adolescent. I think that freshman and sophomores are too young yet to be privileged with a laptop. The reason for this is because they are more likely to get distracted by using this piece of technology in the classroom. I don’t think that any classroom in a college should deny you the access of using a personal laptop. By this age, I think that you are capable of realizing what you need to be focused on and if you are off task than that will be your problem to deal with the consequences later on. Also in some of my college classes now I have lectures that consist over 30 pages of slides. It would be much easier to download the slides rather than printing them all out. After downloading them from the class webpage online, I would be able to type my notes directly on the slides and save it to my computer so I would not have to worry about misplacing it.

What are your views on having laptops in the classroom? If you were a teacher would you allow it? Followed,is a Pro Article that a student wrote of why he likes using his laptop in the classroom. Also, a Con Article from a Professor of why he banned the use of laptops in his classroom.

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