Screen Devices

Screen devices include laptops, tablets, phones, smartwatches, and other machines with screens. While many students feel they are necessary in class, these technologies often cause more distraction than benefit, as empirical research suggests. There are also cognitive benefits to taking hand-written notes.

• Susan Dynarski, “For Note Taking, Low-Tech is Often Best,” Useable Knowledge from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (August 21, 2017)
• Susan Dynarski, “Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting.,” The New York Times (November 22, 2017)
• Reynol Junco, “In-class multitasking and academic performance,” Computers in Human Behavior 28, no. 6 (November 2012)
• “One Instructor's Approach to Digital Distraction,” Office of Information Technology, University of Colorado Boulder (April 2, 2018)
• Faria Sanaa, Tina Weston, and Nicholas J.Cepeda, “Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers,” Computers & Education 62 (March 2013)
• Cindi May, “Students are Better Off without a Laptop in the Classroom,” Scientific American (July 11, 2017)
• Penny Van Bergen, Emma Burns, and Hua-Chen Wang, “Which type of note-taking is better for learning: laptop or pen and paper?,” The Conversation (February 25, 2025)
• “The Digital Native Is a Myth,” Nature (July 25, 2017)