[hermance]

I'd like to state at the outset that I realize that this post is a thread hijack, not at all addressing the question of e-readers for law school. However, I just couldn't not contribute to the discussion about professors who don't like laptop typing in class, since I am one of the accused!.

I'm a professor, and I frequently get frustrated with students typing during lectures. The *vast* majority of the time these students think that they can "multi-task" their way through class. And, then, toward the end of the semester, when they aren't doing well in the course, they can really make life difficult, complaining about how unclear you are, unfair your tests are, how they showed up for every lecture and can't understand why they aren't earning a better grade, etc. If you think the professors are treating the students like high schoolers, well, you are not likely in their office hours when the students are acting like high schoolers. There's also reams of evidence out there from cognitive psychologists showing that people cannot in fact multi-task, particularly on the computer, even though every one thinks that s/he can.

In addition, there's something very disconnected about a classroom in which everyone would rather stare at screens than talk to one another. It's a bit like videotaping a conversation while you're supposed to be participating in it. It just takes away a lot of organic interactive possibilities. I don't teach at law school, and I'm aware that the environment there is different than in your typical seminar, but still, if you've spent any time on the other side of the desk, you would likely be more sympathetic to professors' unease with laptop proliferation. It's kind of like that perennial comic character in film scenes in classroom situations--there's always that brainy person in the front of the room asking, "Is this going to be on the exam?" We laugh at that character, fervently taking notes who all the while is missing the *real* point of the class. Sometimes, you want to tell the students "Stop trying to write down everything and just engage and be in the moment." I guess it boils down to the fact that students behind laptops tend to be passive receivers of information, and many teachers would prefer students be active participants in learning.

(All this said, I don't ban laptops, but instead, I frequently tell students when I'd rather them not take notes and would prefer they look up from their computers and talk!)