Osler's Razor

No, and questions should be peppered out to the students throughout class in the finest Socratic method.

"School" is about "learning", and "learning" is a multi-dimensional experience, the least important of which is digital or involves a keyboard.
 

I don't know if there's any data to support this, but I actually find that I learn better by writing (by hand) vs. typing. I tend to remember more, and then when going back through my notes to type up outlines, I reviewed what I had written.

I like your reasoning better, though.

Laptops were just beginning to be commonplace in law school classrooms toward the end of my time at W&M, and I thought that they were distracting at best. Some students said, "But I can't read my own handwriting!" Um.

I'm not the most traditional or anti-tech person I know, but I agree with you on this point.
 

I think it should be determined on a class by class basis. I liked that we were not allowed to use them as 1Ls at Baylor. But maybe that was a-okay with me because I didn't have them in undergrad 10 years earlier.
I think research skills classes should require it. Students need to understand (and may have to actually be taught) the utility of the computer beyond social time-wasting.
 

Brilliant video.

Forgive the intrusion, but here are a few thoughts from a history teacher looking at the world from a lower level of higher ed.

But first, I think your pragmatic rationale for why lawyers need to take handwritten notes is 100 percent persuasive, Mark. Great points and completely compelling.

In a survey history class, I am torn between the yin and the yang. The distraction potential is incredibly tempting and probably overwhelms the potential for academic multi-tasking--but, in re the latter, I love it when I have students looking up college-level words on dictionary.com, relevant works of art, film, and/or lit on IMDB or Wiki or Google. Wise stewardship of the laptop / web is a great benefit to what I do. On the other hand, it is the human curse to so abuse a good thing to the degree that it becomes destructive.

As of now, I continue to allow (nay encourage) laptops in my class...
 

I'm with Carrie in that I learned better when handwriting my notes.

I found that I was more engaged in the material being covered in class when writing my notes by hand. While typing notes on the laptop brought additional distractions, even when I was focused on the lecture and discussion, I found that I wasn't as engaged in the class as I was when I hand wrote. I was more focused on getting the correct wording, etc. instead of the substance of what was being said.

For example, I wrote out my notes in Sentencing but typed my notes for Habeas. I always felt like I was a step behind in Habeas, with the exception of the few days that I wrote out my notes. I had a much better grasp of Sentencing, I felt.

I also agree with OsoGrande, that Socratic method was a great learning tool. I found that the heavier that a professor relied on Socratic method for teaching, the better prepared I was and the more I got out of it.

I would have been just fine if they hadn't allowed us to use laptops in classes.
 

I’m not a professor but I agree that a laptop and even an iPad or a tablet, where the vertical element is removed but the sense still remains, is not just a vehicle for aloofness but another element perpetuating loose grammar skills and a false sense of knowledge via instant Wikipedia enlightenment gratification. Anyway on the subject of handwriting, I think that if the spelling massacre continues on Twitter, text messaging and informal e-mailing handwritten illiteracy is just a shit [sic] of paper away.
 

Well, I think my opinion on this is strongly swayed by my experience teaching at a high school for gifted-dyslexic/dysgraphic students. For the majority of students, handwriting notes is a good learning tool but for anyone with a learning difference, handwriting can be an unnecessary burden. Some schools have started to block internet access in classrooms so students can type notes but not play with social media. Alternatively, there are AlphaSmarts - small word processors that are only for note-taking. I suppose the onus is on the student to discuss this with the teacher but considering about 10 percent of Americans have dyslexia, chances are that a blanket "no-laptop" policy would disproportionately affect some students.

Also, while it's true that handwriting notes will be an important skill for a lawyer, the difference between class and almost every other situation is that one can ask the speaker to repeat information or go slower, in a way not possible in a classroom.
 

Well, I think my opinion on this is strongly swayed by my experience teaching at a high school for gifted-dyslexic/dysgraphic students. For the majority of students, handwriting notes is a good learning tool but for anyone with a learning difference, handwriting can be an unnecessary burden. Some schools have started to block internet access in classrooms so students can type notes but not play with social media. Alternatively, there are AlphaSmarts - small word processors that are only for note-taking. I suppose the onus is on the student to discuss this with the teacher but considering about 10 percent of Americans have dyslexia, chances are that a blanket "no-laptop" policy would disproportionately affect some students.

Also, while it's true that handwriting notes will be an important skill for a lawyer, the difference between class and almost every other situation is that one can ask the speaker to repeat information or go slower, in a way not possible in a classroom.