Laptops in the classroom

Professors, parents, students -

What do you think about students using laptops in the classroom for note-taking? Do you feel it increases the chance of distraction, having games and the Internet at the students' fingertips? Do you feel it's a more efficient form of taking in the information? Has anyone noticed that laptops help - or harm - the classroom environment?

There is a circle of thought that using computers - e-mail, instant messaging and, yes, blogging - cuts us off from interacting with other humans. That if fewer and fewer of our social and professional interaction is conducted face-to-face that we lose those skills necessary to polite society. Click on "comment" below to share your thoughts, both on laptops in the classroom and on social interaction.