Legal Commentary

Rick becomes the latest to weigh in against laptops in the classroom, specifically because of the problem of student notetakers becoming "maniacal stenographers, transcribing every word without trying to understand what is being said." I agree 100 % with Rick's comments and his solution to that problem.

But let me rise in brief (if facetious) support of maniacal stenography:

Last week, class was interrupted while I was in the middle of making a point. By the time the interruption passed, I had forgotten what I was saying. Fortunately, I was able to turn to a laptop user and say (as we all have wanted to do), "Could you read that back to me?" Which, of course, the student did--verbatim. Can't do that if everyone is taking notes by hand.