The Laptop Law; A Paradox of Anti-Media in the Media Department

Picture this: it’s the first day of the semester. It’s a new opportunity to learn and create new projects as a Media, Culture and Communications major. I walk into my first class, scan the room to pick my seat wisely, sit down, pull out my Macbook and wait for instruction..

The first thing the professor greets us with is a command accompanied with a serious glare and stern eyes.

“Everyone put your laptops and any other electronic devices away.”

With some confusion, I put my laptop away and pull out traditional paper and a pen, ready for the hand cramps and chicken-scratch writing to begin.

I call this the “laptop law”. As an MCC major, I am taking 3 MCC classes this semester and 1 non-MCC. Surprisingly, the only class in which I am allowed to use my laptop or electronic (besides my phone) is the non-MCC class.

Now, before you stereotype me as a millenial that can’t go without looking at their Instagram feed for 20 minutes, which I assure you I can most definitely live without, let me explain.

I believe that the best way to learn is through hands on experience and being able to incorporate other streams of information in order to make connections and genuinely understand course material.

A benefit to having a laptop in class is not only the fact that I can type much faster than I can handwrite, but also that I am able to look up any information that can help me understand class material more deeply on the spot. In this age of digital technology with vast amounts of information available online, it comes in so handy if I need to look up a word definition or gain a quick understanding of some concept that is presented in the class as “common knowledge”.

When the professors don’t allow us to use our laptops, I am unable to use these tools and can often get behind in the lecture.

One argument used by professors and the administration seems to be that they don’t want us to be distracted in class by online shopping and gaming. While I completely understand this and realize not everyone will use their computer in the correct way, we are all young adults fully equipped with self control and the ability to focus in for a couple hours of the day. In today’s workforce, almost every job in the field of communications requires competency of computer technology such as Microsoft Office and the Google applications. I couldn’t imagine getting a job in this career field where.there’s a no-computer policy.

I could understand why some STEM classes, like calculus or biology, might not need computers to research philosophical information like we discuss in MCC classes, but regardless, the availability of online information and using laptops to create media objects in class seems to be more of a benefit than a hindrance.

One of the MCC core classes, Media and Cultural Analysis, is almost completely centered on creating and analyzing media objects and ideologies, yet we are not allowed to use any electronics in class. This seems so counterintuitive to me being that the whole point of the class is to gain a hands on experience in creating media, yet we are not able to touch anything but a pen and paper unless we have a scheduled workshop in the media lab.

One more argument I’ve heard for why we should write out notes is that it helps in retaining information, but as previously mentioned, the majority of MCC classes claim to be discussion based off of the readings assigned (which would have to be printed instead of just pulled up online during class to enrich discussion).

While it’s not the end of the world that students aren’t allowed to use their laptops in class, I honestly find it a bit hypocritical of a department that prides itself in being at the forefront of media and communications and yet does not fully support the integration of technology in learning and education. I think this is something important to discuss and maybe the university should be more open as to why they don’t see the use of media technology in the classroom as beneficial.