Comment A total ban is unnecessary (Score 1) 804
Based on my own experience, I don't think laptops in classrooms should be banned. I've had several profs state that laptops are only for class-related use and will be allowed only as long as that is all they're used for. That tends to work pretty well as students who use laptops for quick note-taking and don't want to lose that luxury, like myself, are eager to let the professor know which students are problematic and the issues with those particular students can then be addressed.
Granted, I do attend a small private school where the largest GenEd classes are usually no more than 50 students, so I don't know what problems are faced by profs with large class sizes. Still, I think banning laptops hurts a lot of good students more than it helps the lazy ones.