Analysis Of Rebecca Schuman's In Defense Of Laptops In The Classroom

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This article was written by author Rebecca Schuman for an English online current affairs and culture magazine that is based in the U.S. This piece of writing was titled “In Defense of Laptops in the Classroom”, where Schuman addressed the debate on whether the presence of laptops in college classrooms is a distraction to the students or not. The audience of Slate would be the general public, but Schuman might have an intended audience-college professors and students. She probably wanted to increase the awareness of the intended audience, making them conscious of this controversy that is directly related to them. Schuman took a strong stand in this article, where she felt that laptops should not be banned in classrooms, for they are able to…show more content…
This argument was supported by the studies done by ULCA and Princeton, and it is an inarguable biological fact, and thus Schuman made a wise choice of argument that is convincible to a very large extent. However, it may not be that applicable in reality, for the speed and accuracy of the students’ writing have to be considered. There is a tendency that the students might be unable to note down some important details in the fast-paced lecture (due to the overwhelming content of the syllabus). Should the students only manage to capture the less important notes, then whatever that they are learning, even if they had the potential to learn it well, would be redundant in this case. Schuman had left out this fraction of the counter-argument, which might have completed her argument. “They should be old enough to decide for themselves whether they want to pay attention in class—and to face the consequences if they do not.” Evidently, Schuman wanted to place emphasis on the fact that the students are matured enough to make informed decisions. She made a very good point, because there will be undoubtedly more than just one distraction life, out of college. Schuman viewed the big picture and did not just concentrate on the over-restrictions on

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