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I hear conflicting ideas on laptops in a classroom. Are they a distraction? Are they a tool to empower students to learn better? If so how would a teacher get the most out of laptops in the class? Are there specific lesson plans?

Laptop computers can be used to help students with their writing, both the technical and the rhetorical/style aspects.  The technical assistance can come from using the grammar checking functions of Word.  I know that they are not perfect, but they do tell a student WHILE they are writing that something MAY be wrong.  Research, my own and others, has demonstrated that student are much more likely to want to improve their writing while they are doing it, and not when their papers are returned.  When papers are returned, 85% of them get pitched as soon as students are able to find their grade.  During this type of writing, the teacher acts as a coach, available to the students to go over their "errors" and to suggest ways to improve the structure of their writing.  It is also interesting that students who are writing in the "public" domain (although the computer is not all that public, it is more public than a sheet of paper hidden on their desk) take their writing more seriously than those students who are only writing for "the teacher" and "a grade."

The second part links to the first.  After students have finished the writing assignment, they can e-mail their papers to the teacher who, after cleaning up their names, can post them for review by all the students;  it's amazing how knowing that you paper is going to be available for immediate (if anonymous) feeback from your "audience" which includes, but is not limited to, your teacher, helps the student to be more "concerned" about the product.  The teacher can point out effective sentences and constructions, good thesis sentences, etc., helping the students with the rhetorical elements of their writing.

In addition, the time devoted to writing in class reenforces something that we often tell students --- that writing is important.  Too often our behaviors have given the lie to that statement because we do not allocate an imporant resource, time, to learning the skill.  It has always been my belief that students should spend at least 2 class periods a week writing together.  Since writing is what the "next level" of education always finds to be the biggest weakness in their students, maybe it's the thing that most deserves our attention.

As a teacher inside a boarding school where laptops are encouraged as a modification or accomodation for specialized learners, I've seen both the merits and detriments of the devices as used inside the classroom. One student of mine simply emails me his written assignments so that he can avoid late penalties or forgetfulness, while other kids simply use them for their own personal distraction.

It takes a sharp eye and an iron fist sometimes, but overall, laptops in class can be helpful for those whose "pencil and paper" skills are less than impressive. Their use for research is also a handy asset, but here again, it takes a keen classroom manager to ensure that actual research is taking place, and not, say, social networking. Any teacher worth his/her salt should be able to adapt to and successfully implement student laptops. But that's just one guy's opinion.

Laptops in my classroom are absolutely essential. My students are constantly doing research and need to be connected to the internet.

The problem then becomes their urge to check facebook while they work on a paper.

I find that the best solution to this problem is simple. I set a desk up in the back of the classroom, and I can see what is on everybody's screens. Since I've been doing this, I haven't had a problem.