Two students and a professor are considering banning laptops in lectures. Grace (Student) I've noticed that whenever I sit behind someone using a laptop, it's hard not to get distracted by their screen. Even if they're taking notes, it pulls my focus away. I think we need to talk seriously about whether laptops should be allowed in all lectures. Ben (Student) I get what you're saying, but I rely on digital notes. My handwriting's too slow, and I use apps that help me organise my materials. Banning laptops outright would make it harder for people like me to keep up or stay organised. Prof. Adams (Professor) That's exactly the dilemma I've been thinking about. I've read distraction studies showing reduced comprehension in laptop permitted classrooms, but we also have students who genuinely benefit from digital tools. What I'm curious about is whether engagement changes when laptops aren’t in the picture. Grace (Student) Maybe we don’t need a total ban, but just some selective sessions where laptops aren't allowed.That would give us a chance to compare participation and focus with and without them. We could also support the shift with optional note taking workshops to help people adjust. Ben (Student) That's more reasonable. And to keep things fair, we should run a student preference survey first. If a majority feel they benefit more from laptops, we need to respect that too. A one size fits all policy probably won't work across every class or subject. Prof. Adams (Professor) I agree. We could pilot laptop-free sessions in a few different types of lectures—small seminars, large lectures and then use student feedback to guide our decision. I'm also open to exploring alternative engagement methods during those sessions, like live discussions or collaborative paper based activities. Grace (Student) I think if students understand it's part of a trial and they're still being heard, they'll be more receptive. Especially if we explain the rationale and offer support for non digital note taking, not just enforce it suddenly. Ben (Student) Exactly. And we can compare outcomes at the end of the semester maybe using the survey results, course performance, and even attendance patterns. If laptop free sessions lead to noticeably better engagement, we can rethink things more confidently. Prof. Adams (Professor) Then let's proceed with selective laptop free sessions across a few courses, backed by workshops and a survey. We'll analyse engagement and student reactions by semester’s end and decide how to move forward based on actual evidence.