Is a paperless classroom possible?
By Tom Hall, Michael Kelty, and Deanna Klein – Teachers, Crittenden Middle School
From e-tickets to online billing, the world is relying less on paper and more on computing. For the technogically and environmentally savvy, it has become possible to manage household finances without a single piece of paper coming into or leaving the house. There are even whispers that minted currency will soon be a thing of the past, being replaced instead by debit cards. Factor in the state of the world’s environment and the irresponsibility of wasting vast quantities of paper and we need to ask ourselves a serious question, are we preparing our students for this future?
Some teachers at Crittenden Middle School have found methods to reduce the paper usage in their classrooms. They have implemented creative methods using the technology tools available to them. They have found that the best paper-saving tip is to put everything online. Many lessons have been created online through the Desire 2 Learn platform, websites, and blogs. Desire 2 Learn is a teaching tool that requires no paper at all. Teachers create lessons, complete them, grade them, provide feedback and give tests and quizzes, all electronically. The platform allows for student discussion groups and individual and group projects. All this can be accomplished in a classroom without using a single sheet of paper. Websites and blogs are great for research and reinforcement of topics. They encourage students to interact academically in an environment in which they are already comfortable interacting socially. This changes the classroom dynamic and has resulted in increased student engagement, improvements in behavior, and completion of their work.
Email is an effective paper reduction tool. By gathering e-mail addresses at back-to school night, the teachers are able to contact parents without sending home a piece of paper. This also eliminates reliance on the student for communication. Teachers have found that it is not necessary to print e-mails they wish to save. Users can create a contact log by archiving parental contacts and saving all important emails to the computer. This will create instant documentation, complete with a return receipt. Another excellent, but paperless, method of keeping parents informed is eSIS. Through the grade book, parents have access to their student’s grades and can contact teachers with any questions. Now that almost all students have access to a computer and internet at home or nearby, it is easier than ever to assign work and keep in contact with parents without using paper.
The available classroom technology has given us an abundance of tools to restrict paper use. SmartBoards and Notebook software make handouts obsolete. They have the further advantage of allowing teachers to e-mail a copy of the day’s notes to absent students and to incorporate multi-media functions into interactive presentations. Senteo and CPS supply a paperless test/quiz format that even grades the tests. These programs use a handheld device that is similar to a remote control, which all students are already used to using. Computer carts and labs are readily available and allow the students to save their work in an electronic format, present it in a professional manner, and to gain practice in using the programs that enrich their career readiness skills.
At Crittenden Middle School we have reduced paper usage by teaching online, contacting parents and colleagues by email, keeping an electronic grade book, and using classroom technology. All of these methods combined allowed one teacher to consume less than five reams of paper for this school year and for one core team to have a 67% reduction in paper usage. While all of this sounds good, teachers know that implementing changes like these in a school setting can be daunting. Hurdles such as access to technology in and out of the school setting, and training for teachers and students are surprisingly easy to overcome once students, staff and parents become excited about digital learning.
As you consider your goal to prepare children for their future, what role will technology play? What can you do to create an environment that is stimulating and academically rigorous while still being environmentally responsible and preparing students for a future that is increasingly free of paper?
June 11th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Many corporations are already mostly paperless. My previous employer went paperless in 1999. While there were many hurdles during the change, in the end it led to a more agile workforce. In the classroom, we need to prepare our students for the real world of work. Consequently in the 2007-2008 school year I went to a paperless classroom.
I will say that in the beginning it was a lot of work. Each time the subject I teach changes it starts all over, but the advantages are big. Scores go up, grades go up, excuses go down, and students are more engaged. It is not perfect, we could really use monitoring software to ensure that students stay on task, but it is a better way to deliver quality lessons. It also allows students choice, without creating a lot more work for the teacher or student.
Whether a student creates a slideshow showing the life of a subsistence farmer in Asia, writes a series of diary entries about that farmer, or creates a short film, he or she has shown understanding of the life of a subsistence farmer. I love the paperless classroom and have found it to have great worth in helping students master material.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I think that while a “green” and paperless classroom is beneficial, the question of possibility is a very hard to answer. Do I think it can be done…yes. But the question of possibility raises a lot of other questions: Do we have the funds, Can we get the funds, what will maintenance be like, how will we monitor usage, etc., who would be responsible overall…? The list of questions is endless.
Paper usage in the classroom can be reduced; but, to go paperless we need more of resources that are probably expendable. I do however, think that a paperless classroom will reduce the amount of disruptions, unacceptable behaviors, and discipline. I think that increasing the resources in the schools allows us to hold the students to higher standards and shows that we are changing with their times.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:55 am
What an interesting post this week! I am the TCIS at Kiln Creek Elementary School. Mrs. Ray, a second grade teacher and I put this very question to the test this past April. I was interested in finding out whether or not student achievement would be the same in a paperless environment. We called it our “Green Facilitator Project”. Mrs. Ray and I co-taught for three days…completely paperless. In fact, the students almost gasped when the art teacher asked them to take out a sheet of paper and pencil. The students were completely engaged, even some of Mrs. Ray’s reluctant students. So, what tools did Mrs. Ray use? She used the SMARTBoard, SMARTDocument Camera, Senteo student response systems, student laptops, dry-erase wipe off boards, and manipulatives. The students eagerly entered the classroom and signed in on the SMARTBoard. They drew a circle map on their dry erase board and began their pre-writing. Mrs. Ray had each student stand at the SMARTBoard board to share their pre-writing, while Mrs. Ray placed their dry erase board under the SMARTDocuent Camera. She was able to capture their pre-writing and the class edited and discussed their ideas. The next day…the students came in just as eager…logged into the student laptops and began composing their writing in Kidspiration. Mrs. Ray maximized tools we already had access to, so no additional expenses were incurred. Homework was posted on her ThinkQuest page, spelling tests were given using http://www.spellingcity.com and students exported their test and handed them in using Mrs. Ray’s hand-ins folder on the network. As a result, we were able to modify the learning environment, without compromising student achievement. Student achievement was the same and all of the students were more engaged. After our project concluded, Mrs. Ray has continued to strive to be as paperless as possible.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Way to go! I’m so pleased to see that educators in Newport News are beginning to think about the paperless concept, and even more excited that some have already embraced it. Can you imagine how we might be able to reallocate resources if we didn’t have to spend so much on reams of paper and copier clicks? Like all change, this requires thinking about our work differently, but it can be done. Kudos to you all!
June 11th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I believe we can reduce paper. I have done so in my class with the use of the LCD given to the English teachers with our textbook purchase. I can’t imagine going back to a classroom without an LCD – we all need them in our rooms for 21st century learning. It has been a delight but to go paperless we would need all students to have laptops or other computer access. I have used the smartboard but found that those at the smartboard are engaged but if it is not “their turn” they lose interest on the high school level. The Senteo clickers are ideal but considering the limited number of clickers it makes it impossible to plan every quiz or test on Senteo. We are at the point where we can reduce paper but far from going “paperless”.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
There are places where going paperless may be less expensive in the long run. A single edition of our school newspaper costs 5 times as much as an annual subscription to edublogs (which hosts the online version of the newspaper). Assuming that a printed paper would come out monthly for 9 months, the annual cost of printing a school newspaper is 45 times as expensive as hosting one online.
The school newspaper uses a computer lab, Internet, a subscription to edublogs, 1 digital camera, and occasionally borrows the schools video camera and microphone. All of this technology adds up, but it is also used by several groups within the school: morning announcements, core classes, the video class, SOL testing, etc.
I’m not sure how much the funds saved by this group offsets the costs of technology required to create the paper and the upkeep of that technology, but I know that it’s significant enough that the savings of going paperless should be a factor in our thinking when planning programs.
June 11th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
When I first read this suggestion I thought NO WAY. I am a pre-k teacher and we use a lot of paper everyday. We do laminate a lot of things in order to reuse. But, the curriculum requires us to make predictions, lists, shared writings, interactive writings etc. The students are required to write each day in their journals and on some type of theme related shape in the writing center. We have used the smartboard to do some writings and lessons but for the most part the students should be given the opportunity to write or else they will not learn how to write. We do teach the students to reuse and recycle so they are learning to become conscious of being kind to our earth. One other issue I see is that not all parents have access to a computer so it would be difficult to communicate without paper. I do have a teacher web site but unfortunately this year’s parents have not utilized it. I hope next year will be better. I will do my best to be more conscious of reducing the use of paper in our classroom.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Wow! I plan on using all of these suggestions next year. I will also spend some time this summer developing my lessons around the classroom being paperless. I know it will be hard at first; but, I think we can set the standard in the beginning and the students will respond very well. Therefore encouraging parents to respond well also.
June 13th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I have to say- I totally buy into the CONCEPT of a paperless classroom. I love the theory of it, and I can see it working with no problem (in fact, I have seen it working within NNPS, and as an ODU instructor have always used a paperless classroom).
Where I have a problem- and where I think we as a school district may need to shift our thoughts on how green we are- is in how we dispose of our used computers.
Many of our parents don’t have computers, or the computers they have don’t have internet access. So- kids are paperless at home, but parent’s can’t see their work once they walk out the door. The Digital Divide has evolved into the Participation Gap. This is something we as a school district really need to think about.
How green is it when our contract for computer replacement includes that the company we are purchasing from hauls off the old computers so we don’t have to think about them? Yes- they are most likely breaking down the components so they don’t clog landfills. But these are still good and useable computers- there has to be SOME way to get them into the hands of our community, so that as we continue to move forward as an excellent district, we don’t leave our parents and community behind for lack of access.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Paperless is a concept that I cannot fully wrap my head around. Although I am fairly young- i have the old school mentality (probably because I have a weakness when it comes to technology). Since I have just gone through a technology integration class, I can certainly see the necessity of needing to get our kids in touch with technology, so that they can keep up with the rest of the world. As of now kids in the United States are behind when it comes to technology in the classrooms, mostly because there are lack of funds in many school districts. Do I think that schools can become paperless? Absolutely! Do I think it’s a good idea? not entirely.
Although i think it’s essential that kids become comfortable in every aspect of technology, I think that young children still benefit from creating things by hand-texture-size-shapes. I think NOT having everything at your fingertips teaches kids to be more creative and allows them to find alternatives to making things or exploring with just sitting in front of the computer.
That being said, computers are still essential in our classroom and our everyday life. I want to make sure that technology will always be in my classroom.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
I think that paperless classrooms are the classrooms of the future. The world is going green and there is no reason that schools can’t do the same. Paperless classroom will also mimic the work environment many students will encounter. Businesses all over the world are doing away with paper and that trend will only grow. The whole point of education is preparing students for their future job placement. Some of the job’s our students will encounter have not even been invented yet. Although their jobs may not exist yet, we can predict that that job will be paperless.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I have to say a paperless classroom is very possible. I just took a class in college that was paperless and it taught me so much. Students love to get involved with technology and get engaged in learning technology. Technology is fascinating for students. Technology meets many students needs and learning styles. I can see the traditional way of learning becoming a lot less popular and technology becoming the new way of teaching. I do believe paperless classrooms will be much more successful. I think that students will create better quality work because it is more interesting to them. Students love to explore new things and technology is all around our students today. I think that paperless classrooms is a great possibility in the future and that it will be successful.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
We are moving into an age where more and more things are becoming paperless. I think schools are a bit behind the times, because of the lack of internet access at the students’ homes. As was mentioned, there are some great tools out there that help teachers, parents, and students with classwork, homework, communication, etc. Class wikis and blogs allow students to have a form of an online agenda plus a place to put their work. Email is a great way to communicate with parents (although I do think there are potential issues there also). And in class paperless opportunities are endless: typing instead of writing, glogs instead of posters, the list goes on. The tools are at our fingertips, but now schools must find a way to reach those students and parents that cannot access the internet at home. I think that day will come and I don’t think it’s too far in the future.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
I do hope to see paper in our schools used only to build origami projects. I have already joined the effort and avoid printing anything that can be stored, read, or delivered electronically. I do have one concern, though. Software tools that we are going to use to replace paper bring countless possibilities in formatting, color use, graphics. All these choices, however, are earlier pre-programmed for us by somebody else. For example, if we look at Inspiration graphic organizers, they are attractive, full of colors and possibilities, and exciting. But do they really reflect how a child organized information in his or her own brain? Could paper and pencil at least win the contest for this kind of “validity”?
June 27th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Yes! A paperless classroom is very possible. I definitely think it will be a challenge for teachers and parents who are accustomed to the traditional “pen and paper” ways of documentation, but it’s clearly the best thing for the future. Not only does going paperless help in the classroom, it also helps the environment. These days many companies are going green, it’s essential that school districts jump on the go green wagon as well. Going paperless will definitely spark exciting changes in the curriculum for students. Technology will make everything in the classroom so much more efficient. No more losing Johnny’s homework, or misplacing important documents, both teachers and parents will have greater communication with one another through email. The possibilities are endless!
I’m totally for going paperless; my only concern is how to make that great transition possible for all schools and students. How will schools get the funding to have up to date technology, and ensure that their students have the same resources at home? Serious changes would have to be made, and with the increasing shortage in teachers, how soon could this be done? It would definitely be an investment worth doing for our education system. Someday; I hope to teach in a technology-centered classroom that is both effective in its curriculum, and environmentally friendly.
June 27th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
This is why I am torn on such issues. I think it would be incredible to have a paperless classroom. Most lessons done in the classroom should not require a worksheet to go along with it or make the students take notes. It would be amazing if all students had notebooks(the computer type) to take down notes or classwork. The students could go home and access their information from their home computer and do their homework online and submit it to the teacher via the digital world such as LIVETEXT. I am against unnecessary waste so having paperless classrooms would save so much energy and trees. Knowing that not all students have access to home computers would be challenging but I believe that a company out there would manufacture inexpensive computers for this purpose. Whenever there is a demand there is usually a response. But here is where I am torn. If we reduce the amount of paper being used people will lose their jobs and that is never good. This change may also create some jobs that we are not thinking of so this is a small concern. My biggest concern is what happens when the power goes out? If we rely too much on technology and put all our trust and information into it are we not reducing ourselves to dependent creatures? Although I enjoy and embrace all that technology offers, I like to live my life knowing that I can live without it. So if we place all our schedules and knowledge into a computer and teach our children to do the same is it a GOOD THING?
June 27th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Is a paperless classroom possible?
Yes, it is possible; we are moving into a direction where technology will be at the hands of every child and teacher. It will be a new experience and a challenge for teachers, students and parents. With the right training, it will be a great success. We as teachers are preparing our students for the future and the world is becoming more and more technological savvy so this will be a very good way to teach our children all about technology. There are a number of applications that we can use in the classroom to teach lessons such as: Digital Media, PowerPoint, Excel, Inspiration, etc. Each of these can keep our students informed as well as entertained while learning the information. This also gives the students the opportunity to create Power Points and Excel projects. Having the students do work with pencil and paper teaching needs to be left behind; we are in the 21st century where technology is taking over the world.