I’m puzzled why you’re so worried about it. I have a few in each class that use laptops, and the issue is no different from the occasional students who doze off or are obviously studying for another class. I don’t take it personally. If they listen and work hard, they do well, and if they want to surf, I’m sure their grade will reflect it.
As for lecture format, I do not, and will not, use powerpoint. It’s no better than watching television – way too passive a learning mode. Of course the students clamor for it – they want to have a set of concrete notes that they can rely on, and if you do the work, all the better for them. The problem is that then your class is not value-added. They could stay home and read the powerpoint notes handily provided for them.
Instead, I provide general outlines, then actively fill them in with the students in class. They thus have their nice set of notes, and I thus have students who stay awake. I refuse to provide filled-in outlines, ever. I also do a lot of in-class exercises and problems that aren’t in the outlines. Overall, students like the structure of the outlines, and agree that powerpoint is too passive. The key here is to be value-added: if you make it too easy for them to stay home and just read your notes, they’ll think you have no value. They have no idea how hard it is to produce a great set of notes.
