A law professor at the University of Memphis has banned laptop computers from her lectures because they fence her off from her students.
Professor June Entman's decision has some students in her Civil Procedures class so upset they are considering transferring to another law school, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported. They say they can't keep up without their electronics.
"If we continue without laptops, I'm out of here. I'm gone; I won't be able to keep up," said Cory Winsett said.
Entman does not think that students need to take verbatim notes.
"My main concern was they were focusing on trying to transcribe every word that was I saying, rather than thinking and analyzing," Entman said. "The computers interfere with making eye contact. You've got this picket fence between you and the students." James Smoot, the law school dean, said he would not interfere with Entman's decision, although he would not ban laptops from his own class.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
