Wild, Wonderful Web 2.0

Paperless for the Organizationally Challenged

I have to admit, not many people would describe me as organized. I don’t think anyone would describe me as disorganized, either. The idea of going paperless would be fantastic, and I tried to implement this as much as possible when I was teaching. At times, I felt that I was constantly organizing and managing paper; student work, filing worksheets, copying worksheets, and circular filing handouts from some staff development meeting. Paperless classes would help teachers stay organized and save time, too.
Another benefit to going paperless would be environmental. Another wold be financial. As the article said, imagine how much money could be saved on textbooks if our schools were paperless.
How would a paperless class change your role as a teacher?
I think I would put more responsibility on my students. Before, I was the paper controller and monitor. They would have to be more responsible to turn in assignments. Lost papers would be no more. I would not have to pretend to be the Desk Witch and leave notes on messy desks.
How would paperless classes change learning?
I wonder if all children would be comfortable going paperless. The students who aren’t as linear might have trouble only using one medium to work.
How would you measure learning in a paperless class?
I can’t imagine a completely paperless K-12 class. I think about Math, especially. I think you would still have to measure learning in ways that use paper.
Would a paperless space make it easier or harder to build a learning network? Why?
I think it would be harder to build a learning network in elementary school. Those children need many modalities to learn. I think they need to have a wide range of experiences in many different assessment methods.
Overall, I think a somewhat paperless class is feasible for elementary schools.