For students, especially college students, technology has proven to be very helpful in the classroom.

It aids in taking notes, downloading powerpoint slides to follow along with the professors’ lectures, looking information up and often in doing homework.

Given how much students today rely on technology to add to their learning experience, it doesn’t make sense for professors to ban technology from the classroom. Usually, this is done in an effort to make people pay closer attention. However, by doing so, those who best learn and study by using technology are at a disadvantage.

In this generation, there are more than a couple people who are so apt with using technology in the classroom, that to strip it away would be hurting and not helping.

Professors, and even all teachers in general, should embrace the changes of technology with open arms, and develop more flexible ways of teaching and learning that can include these new technological advances.

The common policies banning technology from the classroom are still somewhat understandable. Professors fear that some students will take advantage of having their laptops in class and will use them to shop online or browse the web. However, if a student chooses not to pay attention in class, that is his or her own fault, and the teacher will not be able to fully regulate it.

I’ve been in classes on this campus where the professor has put a ban on technology, and I have still seen students zone out, doodle and not pay attention. Take away the technology, and students who do not want to pay attention will find other ways to occupy their minds without it.

In that class, the professor and the teaching assistants, who were roaming around the room looking for technology users, had to stop class constantly to tell violators to close laptops or put away cell phones. It actually became a bigger distraction than simply making technology available would have been.

On the flip side, I’ve been in a couple of classes on this campus that welcomed technology use, and the professor encouraged students to take notes, follow along and provide useful classroom examples using their technology. One student knew of a great movie scene that embodied the topic of that day and was able to find it on their laptop; the entire class watched it and was better able to understand the lecture. All in all, this was by far the superior learning environment.

This generation of learners is different than in the past; students are more inclined to remember concepts if shown real-life learning experiences where the information is applicable. Millennials have different learning characteristics due the era in which they’ve grown up. They are more collaborative, team-oriented and have a larger access to information than ever before. http://www.nssa.us/tech_journal/volume_1-1/vol1-1_article5.htm.

By incorporating technology into the classroom and allowing students to draw from real-life information while learning, millennials will be better able to retain the information.

Additionally, incorporating technology for students of this generation will help them as they go on into their future careers, which undeniably will warrant the knowledge and use of technology. Having the power of technology can either help or hurt a student, and those students who choose to use the technology to further advance their studies will go farther in this generation than students who choose to use the technology to waste time in class.

While technology in the classroom may distract some students, it can help the majority of students stay engaged in class because of the numerous learning benefits provided by laptops and smartphones. These important additions to the academic environment can help students start doing, instead of just learning about doing, and will make coveted teaching concepts such as group work more convenient.

It is understandable that teachers and professors want to be seen and heard by their students in class. However, banning technology is not the way to achieve this goal.

Millennials, who learn better with technology, will better succeed in a more flexible, tech-savvy learning environment.

Courtney is a sophomore in LAS.

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