Students use of laptops in large lecture classes: distraction, partial attention or productive use

Abstract

An increasing number of students are bringing personal laptops to their classes and are using laptops during lectures. This increasing use of personal mobile devices has been described as a shift from e-learning (electronic learning) to m-learning (mobile learning). However, a large debate on the appropriateness of the use of laptops in class has emerged. Many teachers describe that students use laptops for surfing the net, emailing, downloading software and using chat forums during class rather than paying attention to the lecture. This paper reports on the use of laptops in a large lecture class of 650+ students and describes a pilot project that introduced an innovative system that was designed to both focus the attention of students during the class and engage them with the course material outside of class. Educational implications and next steps will be discussed.