If you are in college now

[treestar]

Is it very common to have a laptop computer to take notes on in class?

[huskerlaw]

1. I was in college 2 years ago

and nearly everyone had a laptop.

I teach in a college now and everyone is required to have a laptop.

The actual use of said laptop in the classroom depends on the class. If it's lecture-heavy, nearly everyone uses theirs. If it's more hands on, the computers stay in the bag.

[treestar]

6. Interesting to find it actually required

I was in a college lecture hall for a seminar, and noticed that the desks had plugs in them! The lady next to me didn't want me to use my lap top because it was "annoying" but it sounds like that wouldn't happen in a college class today.

Thanks for the response! :hi:

[huskerlaw]

12. I should be more specific

in both cases, the examples come from law schools.

I looked down thread and it appears that perhaps law students are more laptop-dependent than the undergrads are. ;)

[treestar]

13. Yes, in fact this was a law school that I was in

It was the moot courtroom. It had every toy imaginable - wide TV screens and a projector that prof can hook his or her computer up to for showing his notes to the class. I don't think it had a blackboard.

[huskerlaw]

14. I haven't seen a blackboard in YEARS

all our our classrooms have a projector onto a whiteboard. Some of them even have a thing called a "smart board" wherein, in addition to projecting a computer screen onto the board, there are also "markers" that don't have any ink, which "draw" on the screen and an "eraser" with no eraser material on it that "erases" marks from the "markers". Oh, and it's touch-sensitive too, so the professor can navigate a webpage with her finger on the board, as well as an on-screen keyboard.

As a professor, I love the technology, I gotta say.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

17. We have an Active Board in my HS for math class. It's pretty sweet.

[eyesroll]

2. I'm in law school and I use my pen to sign the attendance sheets.

Oh, and occasionally underline something.

That's about it. Everything else is laptop. There are very few people here who take notes by hand.

[Cabcere]

3. Some people do

It depends on the class, really (in my experience, anyway). Pretty much everyone I know has a laptop that they use in their dorm, for writing papers, etc., but in most of my classes there hasn't been an overwhelming number of laptops - I would guess maybe 20% average? :shrug: Then again, part of that may just be the atmosphere at my small-ish and very old liberal arts college - sometimes it just doesn't feel right to have a laptop in one of the classrooms where Thomas Jefferson or John Tyler might have studied, you know? :) For me, though, it's usually a matter of laziness - it's easier for me to carry a spiral notebook and a pen than have to lug my laptop around to all my classes. Hope that helps! :hi:

[treestar]

8. That would feel strange!

But it sounds as if it is not prohibited either?

I would have loved to have the computer for papers and such, too. I went to college in the typewriter days, where you were cool if yours was electric!

Thanks for responding!

:hi:

[Cabcere]

16. Nope, not prohibited at all

although some classrooms aren't very well-equipped with outlets and such if you need to plug your computer in. I think computers definitely do make paper writing, research, etc. much easier - and the "backspace" key is amazing! ;) When I was in 9th grade, I took a keyboarding class, and one of the course requirements was to be able to use a typewriter. Of course, our teacher stressed us all out by telling us repeatedly that "there's only so much correction ribbon!" :scared: This resulted in a drastic lowering of my rate of words per minute...but at least I didn't use up all the correction ribbon! ;) Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you got the answer(s) you needed! :hi:

[liontamer]

4. depends on the class

some require them, but for the most part people don't. It's usually easier to just carry a notebook. Only a few classrooms have enough outlets for everybody, and not everyone's laptop can hold a charge for more than a couple of classes a day.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. Not really

I am reading a history degree, maybe if it was an IT class then the results may be different.

Most people handwrite notes, with only two others in my year who use laptops. I type directly into my Communicator.

[gravity]

7. No

Some people use a laptop, but its never more than a couple people if any at all. The funny thing is that most people just use their laptop to surf the internet and send IMs in class.

[treestar]

9. A modern twist on the passing notes in class issue!

Poor teachers!

[Reverend_Smitty]

10. I graduated last year...

and I have to say I only knew one person in all of my 4 years who used a laptop in class and it was our senior year and he bought one of those kick ass tablet PCs. We took notes the old fashioned way...however our average class size was less than 20 so it was perfectly acceptable to ask the prof to slow down or repeat something.

[rockymountaindem]

11. A lot of people bring laptops, but many just use them to chat or play solitaire

I never bring my computer to class. I still take notes by hand in a binder. I just like it better that way. Furthermore, I'm also the only person writing in cursive these days. I showed my notebook to some people last semester and they couldn't believe anybody used cursive anymore. I'm proud to be one of that dying breed, I guess.

[unsavedtrash]

15. pretty common in my grad program

The professors just ask that we mute the sound before we bring them in and not to play on the web during lectures.