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A study by a group at Carnegie Mellon was conducted to learn:

 -whether laptops affect the nature of the instructor-to-student or student-to-student interactions in and out of the classroom; how students conduct their out-of-class work in terms of location, time-on-task, and physical and social setting; and the process and quality of student work.

What they found out was:

1. Students interacted with a broader audience and received more diverse sources of feedback while using laptops.

2. Laptop students were more likely to show their work to and get feedback from nondesign students. Instructors saw this increase in diversity of audience and critique as a positive learning experience for students.

3. Students who used laptops spent more time on assignments and worked for longer periods of time than students who did not use laptops.

But..

4. While laptops led students to devote more time to their assignments, this did not translate into higher quality work. Students often interrupted their work to check email and surf the Web, or they spent significant time searching the Web for pictures or diagrams they could have created more quickly themselves.

5. Students with laptops were more likely to work from home and reported home as their preferred place to work.

6. Students with laptops were more likely to work alone than other students. (Which one is # 1 or # 6)

I wonder how long it took Carnegie Mellon to figure these things out. Aren't these findings rather obvious?

What do you think?

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