LyrArc Article Gist
Prof. Dynarski cites evidence from studies at Princeton and UCLA showing that students with laptops in classes performed worse in knowledge of the lecture given by the professor compared to students without laptops. He says there is growing evidence that laptops and tablets actually do not help in learning and absorbing the lectures- that students learn less when they use laptops or tablets in class. Conclusion: laptops act as a distraction from learning. 

By extension laptops distract also in meetings leading to less productivity, and do the same as lectures in universities in the high school classes.

Research shows that as students type out the material in the lecture as the professor talks, they are not duing the substantive processing in their heads as they should be doing. Also important is the negative effect observed in people around you as you use a laptop in class