For example, Joshua Landy, Professor in French Language, Literature and Civilization at Stanford University finds “a laptop-free zone conducive to more engaged teaching experiences.” Likewise, Dan Edelstein, Professor of French and, by courtesy, of History at Stanford University, has “moved away from distributing readings as PDF’s, or links when available (particularly older primary sources):”

Other students affirmed this measured view of using personal devices in class, but argued that such usage trained them in important research skills and even helped them formulate better questions. One student remarked:

But I continue to allow devices for numerous reasons: Conscious of college costs, trying to conserve paper, and teaching older texts, I use exclusively pdfs and links.