Many professors here at the UNI have a policy prohibiting student technology use in the classroom — i.e., cell phones, laptops and other devices.

The main arguments that I have heard for this restriction are that retention is impaired when using technology, and it’s very easy to become distracted from the lecture. I think that this policy is not preparing us for life after college and may even be hindering students in this day and age of technology.

The policy leaves it up to the instructor as to what personal electronic devices might be banned, but I do think that many instructors, or at least many of my instructors, have found it simpler to place a blanket ban on all technology in the classroom. I disagree with this. Students should be encouraged to use technology to supplement their note taking. Technology isn’t going away, and it just might spark someone’s creativity.

There have been studies that say students’ rate of retention is lower when taking notes on a laptop or tablet. But I find that I can take more detailed notes when taking them on my computer. Plus, it is easier to organize, because I can more easily group things together. The key for me is going over my notes after each lecture and writing down the most important things, in addition to listening to a professor lecture about the topic and reading my notes on my computer.

Many of my professors post their lecture slides online using Blackboard and encourage students to print them out and bring them to class. If we could bring laptops or tablets to class, then we could make notes directly on the PowerPoint slide and print them out later. It would save us from the mad scramble before class to print stuff out at the library.

I believe that this zero technology policy some instructors have is hindering students at UNI. When we are out in the professional world, shouldn’t we be able to use technology to reach our fullest potential? How can we do this if we don’t know how to use technology during presentations and meetings? We, as students, are here to learn and prepare for our future careers. Not allowing students to use technology because it might distract them or the people behind them is telling me that our professors don’t trust us to exercise restraint.

It’s crucial for students to learn how to not let technology distract us before we go out into the world. What if we have a job where we sit in front of a computer all day? Would we always be on Facebook when we should be doing our job? Shouldn’t we be prepared to focus our intellect on the job we have to do? 

Right now, it’s our job to learn from our instructors, but in the future, it could be anything. If you tell me that our future careers won’t have anything to do with technology, I won’t believe you. We as students need to learn how to not let technology distract us while still being able to use it, and this comes through experience. I believe the only way to accomplish this is by encouraging rather than prohibiting students to use technology in the classroom.