Welcome back to the Law School Toolbox podcast! Today, we're talking about using laptops and other technology in law school – when to use them and when to leave them at home – because this is not as straightforward as it might seem. In this episode, we discuss: Some of the “Pros” associated with note-taking on a laptop and why these don’t actually lead to increased retention or learning Why using laptops can be so distracting – and how that affects more than just the student taking notes on her laptop Whether or not it’s fair for professors to ban laptops in the classroom Are there any students for whom laptop use may do more good than harm? How to back up your hand-written notes Some recommendations for handwriting your class notes RESOURCES: Is Handwriting Notes a Good Thing or a Bad Thing? (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/is-handwriting-notes-a-good-thing-or-a-bad-thing/) The Pen is Mightier Than the Keyboard: The Advantages of Longhand over Laptop Notetaking by Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581) Scientific American: A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-take-notes-with-a-laptop/) The New York Times: Laptops are Great. But Not During a Lecture or Meeting. (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/business/laptops-not-during-lecture-or-meeting.html?_r=0) Deep Work by Cal Newport (http://calnewport.com/books/deep-work/) Tips for Using the Cornell Note-taking Method (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/tips-for-using-the-cornell-note-taking-method/) All the Supplies You Need to Start Law School Right (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/supplies-need-start-law-school-right/) Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers by Faria Sana, Tina Weston, and Nicholas J. Cepeda (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131512002254?via%3Dihub) Episode Transcript: Download the Transcript (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LST-Ep-161-Should-You-Use-Laptop-in-Law-School.pdf) If you enjoy the podcast, we'd love a nice review and/or rating on Apple Podcasts (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/law-school-toolbox-podcast/id1027603976) or your favorite listening app. And feel free to reach out to us directly. You can always reach us via the contact form on the Law School Toolbox website (http://lawschooltoolbox.com/contact). If you're concerned about the bar exam, check out our sister site, the Bar Exam Toolbox (http://barexamtoolbox.com/). You can also sign up for our weekly podcast newsletter (https://lawschooltoolbox.com/get-law-school-podcast-updates/) to make sure you never miss an episode! Thanks for listening! Alison & Lee