1. faculty.uoit.ca/kay/laptop
Video Presentation is available at:
faculty.uoit.ca/kay/laptop

2. Dr. Robin Kay UOIT – Oshawa, Canada
Benefits and Challenges of Using Laptops in Higher Education Classrooms
Dr. Robin Kay
UOIT – Oshawa, Canada

3. Context – Tension Lecture (50%-80%) Classroom Tension
Digital Natives (Ubiquitous)
Laptop Ownership (88%)
Wireless Access (Ubiquitous)
Attention Span (10 min)
Lecture (50%-80%)

4. In the news …
Professors Ban Laptops in College Classrooms to Avoid Distractions Washington Post, April 25, 2010
Put Away That Laptop: Professors Pull The Plug
NPR
Bad News : More College Banning Laptops
Notebook.com

5. What does the research say?
Benefits
Challenges

6. Validity & Reliability Limited
Why another study?
Patchwork of Results
Validity & Reliability Limited

7. Current Study
Context
Sample
Method
Results

8. Context Study (All students) Laptops Small University
Active Use of Laptops
Social Studies

9. Sample 177 students (89 males, 88 females) Sample
Year 1(42%) Year 2(33%) Year 3(17%) Year 4( 7%)
14% ESL
85% proficient at using computers

10. Method End of Course Survey Voluntary 10-15 min Likert & Open Ended
34% response rate

11. Results - Benefits Average use - 8.8 hours per day
72% reported laptop was helpful
Note taking most prevalent
In-class academic activities also prevalent
Laptops help collaboration process
30% of students use Instant messaging for academics
Twice as many positive comments
Note taking
Helped focus students
Good resources available in class

12. Results – Challenge 50% find other student’s laptop use distracting
43% find the Internet distracting
25% find Instant Messaging distracting
16% participate in watching Pornography
10% send personal s
Negative Comments about distractions
Instant messaging
Playing games
Movies

13. Current vs. Previous Studies
Previous studies used traditional lectures with laptops
This study used active learning strategies with laptop

14. Context – Tension Lecture (50%-80%) Classroom Tension
Digital Natives (Ubiquitous)
Laptop Ownership (88%)
Wireless Access (Ubiquitous)
Attention Span (10 min)
Lecture (50%-80%)

15. Solution Active Learning Engagement Digital Natives (Ubiquitous)
Laptop Ownership (88%)
Wireless Access (Ubiquitous)
Attention Span (10 min)
Active Learning

16. Bottom Line If you don’t use the laptop as a teaching tool in class,
It will most certainly become a distraction!

17. Contact Information
Website: faculty.uoit.ca/kay/home
Dr. Robin Kay
Associate Professor