The other important finding is the "negative externality" of laptop use on other people that are not using it. Even if someone is taking notes on paper and the

The other important finding is the "negative externality" of laptop use on other people that are not using it. Even if someone is taking notes on paper and the student next to him/her is using a computer, research has found negative impacts on both the student using the laptop and the student using paper (akin to second-hand smoke). I think that this is important from a policy prospective because students can make whatever choices for themselves, but the instructor should step in when those choices are impacting others' learning.