Most people that I talk to from other schools are allowed to use their laptops in all of their classes. At Kentucky, it’s actually rarer to use your laptops. 1L year I only had one professor each semester (outside of our research/writing classes, obviously) that let us use our laptops in class. All of my professors let us use laptops in the fall of 2L, but only one out of 5 in this most recent semester. They said that they find the students are more engaged and pay better attention when we don’t use laptops.
I tend to agree. In some classes, the material is so dry or the professors are so boring and stuck on themselves and the material rather than teaching us that laptops are an absolute necessity if you don’t want to absolutely die of boredom. For other classes, there are outlines and information that have been passed around through the years that it’s easier to have those in front of you while you’re learning in case you’re called on. In others, the classes are so packed and we’re all right on top of each other, so there’s just not room for a casebook, a laptop, and possibly a supplement. It’s easier to shuffle if you have a casebook and a notebook.
For the classes that are really case-heavy, I think it helps to have a laptop – most of the cases are briefed online, and I hate briefing on my own. It’s a waste of time, but then again, you risk getting called on and asked obscure details of a case that really don’t matter but the professor wants to know if you’ve read – and of course they think their class is the only one that matters, so even if you’ve read 70-100 pages for class that day, it’s only reasonable to expect you to remember that the defendant wore a red hat that day. But for something like secured transactions, a laptop would have been absolutely no help.
If the professor allows it, I usually use my laptop and don’t miss it much if they don’t. I really don’t take great notes either way. Sometimes I listen better without the laptop, but other times I zone out and watch the clock, so it’s not a huge benefit or deterrent.
Ultimately, I think the students should be allowed to decide if we want to use them or not. We’re the ones paying exorbitant tuition, so if we want to pay attention or shop for shoes, that should be our choice. I’ve heard of professors that make their students put their hands in the air and then the professor walks around the back of the room to see if they were taking notes. I think that’s absolutely ridiculous to do to students in our mid-twenties, but I’ve also learned that some professors will never respect their students – and they don’t garner any respect in turn, either.






