In-class laptop use and its effects on

student learning ]

Carrie B. Fried ¤ Winona State University, Psychology Department,

231 Phelps Hall, Winona, MN 55987, United States Received 29 June
2006; received in revised form 15 September 2006; accepted 24
September 2006 Abstract Recently, a debate has begun over whether in-
class laptops aid or hinder learning. While some research
demonstrates that laptops can be an important learning tool,
anecdotal evidence suggests more and more faculty are banning laptops
from their classrooms because of perceptions that they distract
students and detract from learning. The current research examines the
nature of in-class laptop use in a large lecture course and how that
use is related to student learning. Students completed weekly surveys
of attendance, laptop use, and aspects of the classroom environment.
Results showed that students who used laptops in class spent
considerable time multitasking and that the laptop use posed a
signiWcant distraction to both users and fellow students. Most
importantly, the level of laptop use was negatively related to
several measures of student learning, including self-reported
understanding of course material and overall course performance. The
practical implications of these Wndings are discussed. © 2006
Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Laptop use; Classroom
teaching; Post-secondary education; Teaching/Learning strategies
Computers, and especially laptops, have become standard equipment in
higher education as the number of universities instituting laptop
initiatives continues to grow (Weaver & Nilson, 2005). Brown, Burg,
and Dominick (1998) and Brown and Petitto (2003) have coined the term
ubiquitous computing to describe a campus where all students and
faculty have laptops and all buildings have access to wi-W
technology. But recently there has been a backlash against such
programs, with faculty banning laptop use in their classrooms due to
concerns about the negative impact they have on student learning
(e.g., Melerdiercks, 2005; Young, 2006). There does seem to be a
developing feud between those who want to promote laptop use and
those who are resistant to it. For the past few years, many
educational innovators have touted technological advances in general
and laptops with wireless connectivity more speciWcally as the next
great educational innovations. Brown and his colleagues (e.g., Brown
et al., 1998; Brown & Petitto, 2003) have long advocated the beneWts
of universal and constant access to computers on college campuses.
Much attention has been paid to Wnding ways of roll out laptop
programs and get faculty to adopt and adapt to such programs (e.g., *
Tel.: +1 507 457 5483; fax: +1 507 457 2327. E-mail address:
cfried@winona.edu. 2 C.B. Fried / Computers & Education xxx (2007)
xxx–xxx ARTICLE IN PRESS Please cite this article in press as:
Fried, C. B., In-class laptop use and its eVects on student learning,
Computers & Education (2007), doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2006.09.006
Candiotti & Clarke, 1998; Hall & Elliot, 2003; McVay, Snyder, &
Graetz, 2005; Platt & Bairnsfather, 2000; Schrum, Skeele, & Grant,
2002). One common theme seems to be that if faculty would “take to”
the new technology, everyone would reap the beneWts of this
educational revolution (e.g., Weaver & Nilson, 2005). The key
question for most educators is simply whether these technological
innovations will have a positive impact on education. There is some
evidence that laptop programs and the so-called ubiquitous computing
environments they create on college campuses can have a positive
eVect. Some (e.g., Fitch, 2004; Partee, 1996; Stephens, 2005) have
found that laptops can facilitate faculty-student interactions and
in-class participation, thus increasing engagement and active
learning. This is often done through preparing and posting discussion
questions and using new devices such as response keypads to
facilitate student interaction. Driver (2002) found that laptops,
coupled with web-based activities, enhanced satisfaction with group
projects and overall class satisfaction. Barak, Lipson, and Lerman
(2006) demonstrated that laptop use in a wi-W classroom enhanced
active exploratory learning and promoted more meaningful interactions
between students and with the instructor in large classes. Other
researchers have found that the use of laptops in classes can
increase students’ motivation, their ability to apply course based
knowledge, and their overall academic achievements (Mackinnon &
Vibert, 2002; Siegle & Foster, 2001). When compared to non-laptop
classrooms, students in laptop classrooms reported higher
participation rates, more interest in learning, and a greater
motivation to perform well (Trimmel & Bachmann, 2004). Surveys of
current students and alumni frequently show varying but generally
positive levels of satisfaction with laptop programs (e.g., Finn &
Inman, 2004; Mitra & SteVensmeier, 2000). Demb, Erickson, and
Hawkins-Wilding (2004), in a survey of current students, found that
students felt laptops had a positive eVect on their study habits and
were important to their academic success. Granberg and Witte (2005),
in one of the few studies that looked at non-structured classroom use
of laptops, even promoted instant messaging as a beneWt. They claimed
that this technology allowed students to make comments to or ask
questions of fellow students “silently” without disturbing others,
though they provided no evidence that this was beneWcial to student
learning. Two issues stand out in the research on the beneWts of
laptops. First, much of the research focuses on student perceptions
and the research often lacks objective measures of learning or a non-
laptop control group. One exception, Granberg and Witte (2005) found
no diVerence between laptop and non-laptop sections in overall class
grades. Second, most of the research has been done on classes that
have been speciWcally designed or revised to utilize the technology.
Many of the published papers in this area (e.g., Barak et al., 2006;
Hall & Elliot, 2003; Hyden, 2005; Pargas & Weaver, 2005; Weaver &
Nilson, 2005) are simply prescriptions on how faculty can adapt their
classes to make use of the technology. As a result, it is diYcult to
assess how applicable the laptop research is to more generic classes,
or how laptop use truly aVects student learning. Perhaps because of
this, the idea of in-class laptop use has not been universally
embraced. Few faculty are fully integrating laptops into their
classes (Olson, 2002). Many have raised concerns about the
distraction posed by in-class laptop use. Even proponents of laptops
have argued that the use needs to be carefully controlled. Levine
(2002a) developed a way to integrate laptops into classroom
experiences and found the need instigated a laptop-up laptop-down
system. During lecture time, students are told to close their laptops
and pay attention, thus actively preventing students from using
laptops during lectures. Levine (2002b) has also advocated the use of
software that will allow the instructor to monitor and control what
students are doing with their laptops during class time. Recently, a
true backlash against laptops has begun to surface. Schwartz (2003