Joe Lane
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Editor’s note: This column is a part of today’s drug issue.

If you walk into most lecture halls on the University of Iowa campus — or really any campus in this country — you’re likely to be greeted by a sea of glowing Apples with a few shimmering “DELL” and “HP” logos interspersed. You may also note the contagious uninterest spread across the faces of the students.

Research has shown, not surprisingly, that taking notes on laptops is extremely distracting to students, because they are merely one click away from pulling up Facebook, Pinterest, or any number of non-school-related sites in the middle of lecture. Interestingly, however, a new study published in Psychology Science has indicated that not only is taking typed notes on a laptop or tablet distracting; it’s not nearly as effective as handwritten notes.

The use of laptops for taking notes has become more prevalent as technology has proliferated in the classroom. Interestingly, over the past few years, the use of stimulants on college campuses (such as Adderall) has also risen drastically — particularly at the UI. While there is no research available to indicate a correlation between the increased illegal use of stimulants and technology use, the correlation between Adderall and attempts to decrease distractions is obvious.

According to data provided by UI Student Health & Wellness, illegal stimulant use on campus has risen from 15.1 percent in 2009 to 20.6 percent in 2015. The definition of use, in this case, is someone who has used a stimulant at least once in the prior 12 months without a prescription. Nationally, however, such stimulant use is only 8.1 percent. While this figure is still concerning, it pales in comparison with Iowa’s abysmal 20.6 percent.

It certainly is not too big of a stretch to imagine students, distracted by their computers, failing to pay attention in class, and taking subpar notes, then requiring prescription drugs to focus on those subpar notes so they can graduate in four years.

Although I have not used Adderall, it should come as no surprise that, as a college student, I am often distracted by technology in the classroom. If I am not on Facebook or ESPN, the person next to me is, so the notes I take that day are either insufficient or nonexistent.

However, in my coursework at Iowa, I have had one lecturer who forbade the use of technology in the classroom, and it seemed to work rather well.

Dave Collins is a lecturer in the Marketing Department at the Tippie College of Business. In his courses, he requires students to leave technology in their backpacks and pockets.

And while Collins didn’t specifically address the use of Adderall on campus, he did say, “I don’t call this the technology generation, I call this the distracted generation. If someone’s phone is ringing or messages are coming up, it drives them nuts.”

But more than taking notes, Collins said, “This whole idea of not allowing students to be on their cell phones before class [has] created a community; people are talking to each other, people are friends.”

Pushing technology out of the classrooms may seem counterintuitive to the changing employment landscape, but as students become increasingly distracted — to the point of using prescription medication to focus — it just may be the perfect, and astoundingly simple, solution to a number of problems.