Paperless Learning in Public Schools

Historically, the physical textbook has been the main learning resource for public grade schools and colleges across the United States. From kindergarten to college graduation, you are provided with a hard back book for every class you take that is not only heavy to carry around, it is the primary reason we kill so many trees every year.

With the age of technology, many non-traditional colleges have wised up and are converting their learning formats to an on-line, virtual study forum that no longer requires the toting of heavy, 900 page monster books required for learning. All reading material, including your textbook, is posted in a downloadable format that is easy to access and doesn't require one shred of paper. You can literally carry around an entire library in a single laptop that is lightweight and convenient to access with the push of a power button and access to the Internet.

So why haven't public schools picked up this philosophy? It might not be long before they do. Imagine how much easier it would be for schools to issue one laptop to each student instead of investing millions of dollars in printed materials that will be thrown away as soon as the edition is outdated and replaced with new material. In addition to lightening the paper load, the use of this type of technology would also improve communication between teachers and students. Students would be able to ask questions of their teachers even when they were not actively in class. Imagine what this would do for kids who were sick and could not physically be in class. The absent student could still obtain notes from the class without having to call a neighbor or friend and rely on second hand information to catch up on what they missed. It might even keep sick kids at home more often and reduce the level of flu and illness so widely transferred in the school system.

The University of Phoenix started utilizing this method of learning when it developed on-line learning classes for non-traditional students. Each week before students attend class, the teacher posts the learning agenda in a Power Point format so students can review the lessons before the lecture. During the lecture, students can listen more attentively because they do not have to take notes. The notes are already on the forum that they can access with their personal laptop in the Power Point presentation. All of the assignments are listed in the class forum with the syllabus and the teachers' expectations for the course. If a student has to miss a class, all the information from the class is conveniently available despite their absence.

Also, it is impossible to ever lose an assignment. Homework is done in a word document and submitted on line so there is no need for printing or wasting paper and the assignments can't be misplaced once they are posted to the forum. Unless a student lost their laptop and the assignment was in a word document that had not been posted, it would be saved in the forum and could not be lost. And what are the chances that a student would lose their laptop. They wouldn't be able to do all the fun things they love to do on line like play games, read the news, or chat with their friends. A laptop is much more valuable to a student than say a single assignment or a book they are not necessarily eager to read. For most kids these days, their laptops are their lives.

Once an assignment is completed and posted to the forum, the instructor knows the exact date it was completed and submitted because it is electronically transferred to the forum with date and time of the submission. There is never a question about lost papers or forgotten assignments. And when the instructor grades the homework, the student receives a grade instantly. There is no waiting impatiently until the next class meeting to get feedback on a paper or receive a grade on an important exam. The entire process is really amazing.

Besides the amount of paper reduction and tree salvage, there are so many benefits to paperless learning. With the quality of technology today, paperless learning in the public school systems could greatly reduce the education expense and provide children with better resources and communication for learning.