Classroom technology and active student learning

The increasing use of laptop computers in the classroom has created the phenomenon of students who engage in E-mail conversations, play solitaire, download sports scores, and do other things in class.  The problem is not so much that students are not paying attention—there have always been students who didn’t pay attention—but that such activities are often highly distracting to other students.

In a new paper, Paul Caron and Rafael Gely argue that the response is not outlawing laptops, but rather using technology in the classroom to foster active student learning.  The paper, Taking Back the Law School Classroom: Using Technology to Foster Active Student Learning is forthcoming in the Journal of Legal Education.