Have you ever had your laptop or tablet out in class, taking notes of course, and the professor walks by to make sure you are doing what is expected? Those moments make me feel like I should not have brought the laptop to class. Do they not have any trust in college students? By this time in our lives, we should be able to be trusted to use technology in the classroom, right? Are we adults or are we not? Sometimes it still feels like I am in high school where no one can be trusted to do anything.
I go to class expecting to take notes like normal, with a laptop, and instead leave the computer in my bag, taking notes with a scrap piece of paper instead. I would rather take notes by hand than be under the glare of a professor who disapproves of technology in the classroom. Not all professors are like this, but I have had many who have made me feel this way like I have to continue to take notes the same way, even though I can use a computer instead of a pen and paper. A computer allows me to take notes faster than I can write them, and in some classes, the teachers talk faster than I can write.
The stigma that technology in the classroom is bad has got to go. The world is changing and so is the way we learn. If I have to hand-write my notes, most of the time I cannot read them to save my life or my grades. Typing my notes, I can understand them and not have to take the time to try and read the chicken scratch to type them into my computer. Although traditionally writing out your notes may be better for remembering them, you can always write them out later after you type them too.
Personally, I would prefer to use a laptop for taking notes but will probably end up using a paper and pen to write down anything of importance during class. I know that I can type faster than handwriting anything. This is just the way of this day and age of technology. Use your resources they tell us during class and last time I checked, I think laptops classify as a resource to better my schooling, right?
I understand professors know that not everyone will only take notes during class if they have a laptop in front of them, but what about those who do? The way they walk around the room checking, making sure, is intimidating, to say the least. I feel like there is an unspoken rule that the classroom is no place for technology. This needs to change; laptops and tablets should be allowed in the classroom without the students feeling intimidated that they can’t and shouldn’t use them.