Stop the Printing - A Question of Equity

 How do you have your students turn in a paper for your class?

A.  Paper Only
B.  Digital Only
C.  Digital and Paper

If you ask students to print, where do your students print their papers?

A.  Home
B.  The Public Library
C.  The School Library
D.  Your Classroom

I now want to ask some more questions that I've been pondering.

• If you have students print their work, who is the printout for?  
• Does printing out the paper do something for that student's learning?  
• Do you think printing shows some responsibility or something about the student?  
• Do you find it easier as the teacher to grade on paper instead of using rubrics in Canvas or posting comments and assigning a grade digitally?  

Part of my job as TOSA is to help other teachers embrace and integrate some technology. I know for some small steps can be big and I am happy to be a thought partner and mentor in that process.  But as I think about something as simple as printing, it really comes down to one thing.  IT IS ABOUT EQUITY.  We as a school have moved to a digital system.  Printing work is for the teacher.  One teacher then asks 150 students to go print one paper for one class.  I personally don't have a printer at home anymore.  What system have we then created? It's like asking students to save something to a CD when most computers don't have that drive anymore.  Jobs ask you to turn in resumes digitally.  If they want a paper version, THEY print it out.  But, I do get it, as an English teacher, there is something to looking at a physical paper and giving feedback. It took me time to embrace commenting in Google Drive and using a digital rubric.  It isn't instant, but again, it has been six years of moving slowly on this.  Our first students using Canvas in our district have come and gone.  Our current students have grown up using technology in elementary and middle school.  We need to be able to meet them where they are and not slow them down.  

If we can move to digital and turn in at the start of the class period (which I wrote about in a previous post) it is cost saving for our school, better for the environment, and it ensures that students are given an even playing field.  So, here is my proposal, IF WE TEACHERS WANT TO READ A PRINTED VERSION OF A PAPER, WE PRINT IT.

The How
Did you know that you can download an entire set of papers for an assignment and then print them all?  Watch this screencasting to walk through the process.