> ...the writing wasn't as fluid as it was when the students were putting pen to paper. "You could also see an increase in copy-and-paste," he says. The laptop

> ...the writing wasn't as fluid as it was when the students were putting pen to paper. "You could also see an increase in copy-and-paste," he says. The laptop is a tool, albeit a very useful one. Eliminating the laptop is not the solution. Most universities have already addressed the issue of plagiarism. One sets explicit, written standards, explains that it is self-deception as well, and then use software that can detect it. Warn the first time, fail the second. Actions have consequences in the real world. The sooner students learn and accept this, the happier and more productive their lives will be. Having grown up in an era where we wrote essays by hand and later used typewriters, computer word processing is a very useful tool. Abandoning it is foolish. Start by requiring drafts, encourage revision, and hold students accountable. If they are old enough to use laptops, they are old enough to use them properly.