Belle Lettre has a very fine post on legal pedagogy, with a wonderful roundup of various comments on laptops in the classroom. Here’s a taste:
Law students are mature enough to know that whatever form the lecture/discussion takes (Powerpoint, classic lecture, or heavily Socratic/dialogic) there are also many ways to process the material (taking notes by hand, by laptop, or by making their own case briefs, or just listening) and that just as the professor has discretion in how s/he conveys the material, the student should have discretion in how s/he processes it. It’s a “whatever works for you” operating model. Personally, I’m in favor of an inclusive pedagogy that acknowledges that people learn in different ways–some are visual, some are verbal, and many, like me, take notes obsessively by laptop because I can no longer write by hand very efficiently or read my own handwriting.
I do want to express sympathy with this last point. My handwriting was never good, and I haven’t taken extensive notes by hand for ages and ages! And while I am very sympathetic with concern about laptop use, I also believe there are many alternatives to laptop bans. Read Belle Lettre.