THW encourage the use of laptops in classrooms.

Simply because:
OPP: SANJEV SHANIA SYAZWINA

Note-taking on a laptop encourages verbatim transcription.

verbatim > in the exact same words, corresponding word for word to the original source or text. The note-taker tends to go into stenographic mode and no longer processes information in a way that is conducive to the give-and-take of classroom discussion. Because taking notes the oldfashioned way, by hand is so much slower, the student actually has to listen, think and prioritize the most important themes. Of course, if ones idea of teaching is a process by which the notes of the teacher get transferred to the notes of the student without passing through any of the students brains, then laptops may be the perfect transcribing tools. But if the goal is an interactive classroom, I find that laptops not only get in the way but also defeat the purpose.

Laptops create a major distraction

surf the Web, check e-mail, shop for shoes, play solitaire, or instant-message friends. Thats not only distracting to the student who is checking football scores and statistics but for all those who see him or her and many others doing something besides being involved in class. It takes the student out of the classroom discussion, which itself has collective costs for the learning environment as a whole.

Facts
Seventy percent said that, on balance, the liked the no-laptop policy. And, perhaps most surprising, 95 percent admitted that they use their laptops in class for purposes other than taking notes, such as surfing the Web, checking e-mail, instant messaging, and the like. Ninety-eight percent reported seeing fellow students do so.

Laptops are extremely unpredictable.

Most students become quite good at troubleshooting little problems, but imagine a day where everything seems to be going wrong, and you have 30 students asking for help. Microsoft Windows takes forever to boot up. If the previous student didnt shut down the machine properly, the laptop might need to scan the hard drive. Sometimes logging in to our school network can take a long time (especially if its the first time a student is logging in on that machine.) Sometimes the wireless settings on the laptop have become messed up and students needs to repair the wireless network connection or need to plug into the Ethernet connection.

Staying ahead of vandalism*

Availability of laptops for student with low income.*

Pro: Laptops can lead to better student motivation to learn, teachers say, including more
independent research, and better student discussion in classrooms. The No. 1 most important "plus" students like them!

Con: However, many districts have failed to clearly state measurable goals for the use of
laptops to show a distinct improvement in specific student achievement outcomes. They wind up as a toy -- not really a productive learning tool. If all a district can show is "soft" data on how much students (and teachers) like having laptops, rather than "hard" data that shows that fewer students need remediation, more students graduate, standardized test scores are going up, and more graduates do better in college, the district is probably covering up a serious problem with cost-effectiveness.

It can bridge the "digital divide," the disturbing phenomenon in which students from middle-class and well-off families can afford home computers, but students from households that struggle financially cannot.

Pro:

Con: It's enabling theft, since school officials know they cannot in good conscience
charge a low-income student when that student "loses" a laptop. A whole new black market for "fenced" laptops has developed around school districts which are giving out free laptops to all. If a student whose family income is low enough to qualify for free or subsidized school lunches, the student generally gets a whole new laptop, no questions asked, when he or she reports it stolen. Meanwhile, middle- and upper-class students have to pay the full freight if they "lose" theirs, and with the amount of theft that's going on, that's a likely prospect in some districts.

Laptops are making student projects better because of the direct access to information, and better presentation techniques.

Pro:

Con: No, kids with laptops are simply becoming more adept at plagiarizing and creating
fancy-looking, but shallow, busy work. Sure, they can produce glitzy-looking products, but they cover up basic deficiencies in academic skills that could have been delivered to children for far less time and cost with traditional teaching tools.

Pro: Laptops are more cost-effective than library books.

No, an across-the-board student laptop program is by far the most expensive learning tool a school district ever buys for its students. A laptop may cost more than $1,000, while a textbook may cost $50. Yet laptops are prone to break and be stolen with far more damage than library books ever sustain. Laptops give students access to all kinds of information, valid AND invalid; but textbooks generally give peer-reviewed, cross-checked information that is more reliable and accurate. The on-going costs of keeping up a laptops-for-all program in a school district are usually just about as expensive as the first-year, start-up costs when the district bought all the machines in the first place. And all it takes to break one is to step on it, which is easy for a child to do these days, since schools encourage students to use their laptops on the floor, lounging in beanbag chairs, etc., and there are rarely any demands that low-income students replace laptops that they break or lose which gets expensive in districts in which more than half of the student body is considered "lowincome" for purposes of allocating free or subsidized school meals.

Con: