Technology has gone underwater to unimaginable depths and great heights into space. The next frontier, of course, is the classroom.
With technology as easily accessible as it is today, more and more students have laptops in class. This new tool helps to make classes more interactive for not only the student, but for the professor as well. It aids in student/teacher communication with e-mail and is more efficient than trying to schedule an appointment with professors who already have prior obligations.
Having laptops in class is beneficial simply because they provide students access to Internet databases in research and to aid in comprehension of a professor’s lesson. A few clicks open gateways to more information relating to that day’s topic that will certainly help in understanding.
In addition to accessing information on the Internet, having a laptop allows easier access to notes taken in class. Instead of scribbling everything down and having illegible writing covering the page, typing up one’s notes keeps them presentable. And, by having one’s notes typed and saved to the laptop, the notes will be kept in order for review and study purposes.
Laptops and wireless classrooms are more efficient and environmentally sound than classes that do not allow such technological advancements. Clicking through one’s laptop to find past notes and assignments is more efficient than rifling through an entire notebook, looking for a single sheet of paper. Computers and laptops are far less damaging to the environment than purchasing notebooks every semester for different classes. Where notebooks require the destruction of trees, laptops require electricity and a wireless signal.
The argument against students having laptops in class is, in a word, silly. Computers have become a necessary resource in today’s growing technology industry. It has become one of the most useful learning tools that a teacher or student could have. Those who argue against laptops in class say that this resource presents distractions and detracts from the learning process. Again, silly. The only reason a student would opt to play games, or zone out, is because there is no connection between that student and the teacher.
Technology is not to blame. Besides, more and more professors prefer students to have laptops and to e-mail assignments rather than collecting stacks and stacks of handwritten papers.
Hands down, the argument regarding students having laptops in class is really no argument at all. Technology in this case is the victor in the opinion of students and professors alike.
So students; access the Internet, type your papers, e-mail your assignments, and use your technology to learn.