"Thus, there seems to be little upside to laptop use in class, while there is clearly a downside."
Thanks to bs articles like this that try to over generalize their results, I was unsure if I "needed" a laptop when returning to school.
Got a Surface Book and here's what I've experienced over the last 2 semesters.
- Going paperless, I'm more organized than ever. I just need to make sure I bring my surface with me wherever I go and I'm good.
- Record lectures, tutorials, office hours, etc. Although I still take notes to keep myself focused, I can go back and review things with 100% accuracy thanks to this.
- Being at 2 places at once. ie: Make last minute changes before submitting an assignment for class A or attend review lecture to prepare for next week's quiz in class B? I can leave the surface in class B to record the lecture while I finish up the assignment for class A.
If you can't control yourself from browsing the internet during a lecture then the problem is not with your laptop...
That's a sensible and practical use of laptop that I wish I had back when I was at Uni (nobody had a laptop in the 90s). I wonder how many students today make efficient use of their computers like this? I guess it's a mix of good and bad.
It occurs to me that educating younger students about "how to use a computer" for organising and the like, would be essential in early education before bad habits set in.
Thanks to bs articles like this that try to over generalize their results, I was unsure if I "needed" a laptop when returning to school.
Got a Surface Book and here's what I've experienced over the last 2 semesters. - Going paperless, I'm more organized than ever. I just need to make sure I bring my surface with me wherever I go and I'm good.
- Record lectures, tutorials, office hours, etc. Although I still take notes to keep myself focused, I can go back and review things with 100% accuracy thanks to this.
- Being at 2 places at once. ie: Make last minute changes before submitting an assignment for class A or attend review lecture to prepare for next week's quiz in class B? I can leave the surface in class B to record the lecture while I finish up the assignment for class A.
If you can't control yourself from browsing the internet during a lecture then the problem is not with your laptop...