More university professors nationwide have increasingly questioned students' use of laptops in class, with some choosing to ban computers from lectures. Students returning to the Hill this semester have found that some Tufts professors have also made the decision to either discourage or prohibit the use of laptops in their classrooms.
The backlash against students using computers to take notes in lectures comes even as Tufts continues to increase wireless Internet access in university buildings. Despite the sometimes-unpopular nature of such bans, faculty members defended their policies as being vital to creating a conducive learning environment.
Assistant Professor of Arabic Kamran Rastegar, who discourages the use of laptops during lectures, questioned their place in the classroom.
"It didn't add much to what was going on in class and introduces all kinds of distractions," Rastegar said. "Students with laptops distracted other students. It's not so much that they offend me, I just couldn't think of a good reason for them being in class."
Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Eichenberg said his stance on computer use is as much for his own benefit as his students'.
"As a lecturer, it's not fun to look at 60 laptops," he said. "I like to see faces and expressions so I can get a sense that what I am saying is hitting home. It has nothing to do with a theory of learning. I just need to have a connection with my student audience. It's really a question of physics; students can't be looking up at me and staring at their computer screens at the same time."
Professor of Sociology Helen Marrow, who is in her first semester at Tufts, acknowledged the benefits of having computers in class.
"I get it," Marrow said. "I'm from the computer generation as well and understand that there are incredibly good reasons for using laptops in the classroom. They make it easier to take in a lot more information and if you need someone to look up a definition or an example, they are very useful. In this way they can further class engagement."
Marrow, however, also articulated theoretical reasons for her position against computers in the classroom — she has taken a more creative approach to the laptop ban, allowing only students sitting in the front row to use laptops.
"As a sociologist, I see this as illustrating how people act differently in large groups," she said. "The temptation to distract yourself with technology is not an individual tendency. It's the context we create with technology in which students are more likely to do other things than pay attention."
Marrow also compromised with students worried about missing information without a laptop to take notes with by posting her PowerPoint lectures online.
Neither Eichenberg nor Rastegar have reported any backlash from students about the ban. Eichenberg said the no-laptop policy has generally been conducive to classroom participation.
"I frequently ask rhetorical questions that require students to respond," he said. "If faces are up and eyes are engaged, it's more likely that conversation will result."
Rastegar said that the debate about laptop use touches on a larger discussion of the appropriate use of technology in everyday life. His own decision to question the constant use of technology came from personal experience.
"We are all struggling with how best to use technology," he said. "In the classroom, students must be succumbing to that temptation of wanting to check their e-mail that I have experienced. Maybe in another generation people will be better trained on how to figure this out, but for now we need to be careful."
