When You Talk About Banning Laptops, You Throw Disabled Students Under the Bus

Abstract

The argument to ban laptops in classrooms has risen from the dead (again). When laptop-ban arguments are broken down, what you find is mistrust of students and a sense of insecurity on the part of professors. And the studies that support the bans are shaky at best. Worst of all, laptop bans harm— really harm—disabled students, who make up a large part of the U.S. student population. Mistrust of students and shaky studies are not a good enough reason to hurt disabled students.

Instead of bans, faculty must embrace universal design for learning (UDL)—developing classroom practices that work for all students, including those with disabilities, without singling out any student for special accommodations or requiring a student to ask for special help. Good professors don’t throw unnecessary hurdles in the paths of disabled students. They just teach better.

Keywords: laptop bans, mental disability, academia, disability, higher education, pedagogy, universal design for learning, universal design, learning design