“…Fried describes a 'backlash' where lecturers insist laptops remain closed (Fried, 2008). In the UAE, devices are also a distraction (Awwad et al, 2013;Genena et al, 2019;Miles, 2019). Consequently, some institutions have considered banning laptops (Elliott-Dorans, 2018;Yamamoto, 2007), but this seems a Luddite solution and is impractical for a 'generation of multitasking students' (Gaudreau et al, 2014, p. 253) who are 'saturated in media' (Roberts et al, 2009, p. 314).…”