[itishappy]

No teacher (or parent) has ever managed to lock down a computer that was in my possession to a level where I wouldn't get distracted by it. You could shut the power off, and I'd still be poking around the hardware. I spent hundreds of hours programming my calculator instead of paying attention in class. Informative? Yes. Distracting to myself and those around me? You bet.

I completely agree with your phone take. There is no level of administrative control that can remove the distraction from the device.

Why would you think laptops are different?

[Noumenon72]

We could reduce it to the level of distraction of a notebook and pen. Grayscale would help.

[itishappy]

For sure, I love my ReMarkable, but I think of it as an expensive toy. It functions slightly worse than a notebook and pen for over 100x the cost. I suppose it would enable students to save their notes digitally, but at no point have I ever felt the need to return to my earth science notes. In fact, I have fond memories of burning all my high school notebooks immediately after graduation.