Why professors shouldn't ban laptops and other note-taking devices in classrooms | Career Advice - Inside Higher Ed

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Banning laptops or other note-taking devices from the classroom is an extreme stance that isn’t right for every student, argues Karen Costa, facilitator at Faculty Guild and a Massachusetts-based adjunct who teaches college success strategies to first-year students.

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Every few months, Edutwitter features debates about whether handwriting or laptops are the better option for note taking. People on both sides take firm and definitive stances, as they should. “I’m not sure” and “It probably depends” are tweets not destined for viral fame. Stronger proclamations and less cool heads prevail in that space.

My intention in this essay is to identify the nuances of note taking, however, and then to circle back to suggest some strategies that classroom instructors will actually find useful.

I have been teaching note taking to college students since 2006. I’ve also been training faculty members on how to teach note taking to students for about a decade. Finally, since our knowledge of how people learn best is constantly evolving, I’m currently studying in the field of mind, brain and education science. What follows is the best of what I know about note taking in college classrooms...

Let’s not forget ourselves, either. Faculty members are doing some of the hardest, most emotionally and mentally draining work of the modern era. I saw a recent post online that compared the stress level of teaching with that of air traffic controllers. We have to be savvy and thoughtful about where we invest our energy. Note taking is important. What’s even more important is how we help students to use those notes for deep learning and long-term success.
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Source: Inside Higher Ed