Professor bans laptops from class

from a USA Today article:

A group of University of Memphis law students are passing a petition against a professor who banned laptop computers from her classroom because she considers them a distraction in lectures.

On March 6, Professor June Entman warned her first-year law students by e-mail to bring pens and paper to take notes in class.

"My main concern was they were focusing on trying to transcribe every word that was I saying, rather than thinking and analyzing," Entman said Monday. "The computers interfere with making eye contact. You've got this picket fence between you and the students."

While I feel that in most cases, taking notes with paper and pen works better than taking them on a laptop, I disagree with the professor banning laptops. After all, a preference for paper and pen notetaking is simply a preference - based on many factors - age, typing skills, penmanship (lol) etc... To impose one's own preferences without a solid reason is overstepping the bounds of a professor. Whose classroom is it anyway?

The argument that some students are ineffective taking notes with laptops is meaningless, as there are students who are ineffective taking notes with paper and pen. A professor ought to, within reasons, adapt to the learning styles and preferences of the students. Allowing students to use laptops in class seems to be a reasonable adaptation for a professor to make.