This is absurd. Of course laptops can be powerful tools - but their use as glorified word processors isn't enough. Have the kids write their own curriculum mod

This is absurd. Of course laptops can be powerful tools - but their use as glorified word processors isn't enough. Have the kids write their own curriculum modeled after Wikipedia and/or wikibooks. Have them review each others work. And have them use smart notebooks like Jupyter to explore economics, math and physics. Solving the "copy and paste" problem is about finding re-mixing techniques than strengthen learning, in a similar way that writing notes does. Maybe making visual collages to go with the wiki-essays is a better approach than forcing "re-writing in your own words". The point isn't the technique itself, but the result - are you able to acquire, internalise and in turn express new knowledge? I think it's also notable that "professional" tools encompass spreadsheets, text editors, desktop publishing packages, version control (with reviews), photo and image editors and drawing programs - but not really word processing or powerpoint-like presentation tools. Yet that seems to be the focus: the laptop of the 1950s - a smart typewriter.