Deepening academic deficits in the digital age: the ways that computers impede learning in the classroom. From the article:

Laptop computers are widely prevalent in university classrooms. Although laptops are a valuable tool, they offer access to a distracting temptation: the Internet. In the study reported here, we assessed the relationship between classroom performance and actual Internet usage for academic and nonacademic purposes…. Our results showed that nonacademic Internet use was common among students who brought laptops to class and was inversely related to class performance. This relationship was upheld after we accounted for motivation, interest, and intelligence. Class-related Internet use was not associated with a benefit to classroom performance….

Although laptops may be helpful for taking notes … or promoting class participation, they are also a potential source of distraction. In particular, laptops provide easy access to the Internet, and they allow students the appearance of pursuing academic goals, which is not the case when smartphones are used. In essence, laptops might increase the likelihood of self-interruptions, which are more disruptive to the primary task than external interruptions. Furthermore, several studies have shown that using portable devices for nonacademic purposes in the classroom is related to diminished learning and that this holds true regardless of intellectual ability….

Participants spent a median of 37 min per class browsing the Internet for non-class-related purposes with their laptops. They spent the most time using social media, followed by reading e-mail, shopping, watching videos, chatting, reading news, and playing games….

We also ruled out the explanation that more intelligent students are better able to multitask. Internet use was associated with lower final-exam scores even when we controlled for ACT scores. In addition, the inverse relationship between Internet use and final-exam scores was similar for individuals with high and low ACT scores (identified by a median split)….

We found no association between academic use and classroom learning; this is consistent with the idea that although students are highly familiar with technology, they are not necessarily using technology in the most effective way. Indeed, students may take lecture notes on the PowerPoint slides that they have downloaded, but writing notes by hand has been shown to be better for learning….

Students using the Internet for nonacademic purposes may be unable to inhibit Internet browsing even though they believe it to be harmful to their learning. The lack of an associated benefit when browsing class-related Web sites and the detrimental relationship associated with nonacademic Internet use raises questions regarding the policy of encouraging students to bring their laptops to class when the laptops are unnecessary for class activities.

[editor’s note: sources omitted]

A PDF of the full article can be found here (h/t Scott Newstok)

For Microsoft’s study of handwriting, see here