Last year, for the first time, five of my six classes went paperless. Since I teach in a computer lab, every student has access to a computer during the class and every student has their own student folder available to them on the school server. Each student also has a district Moodle account so the resources were all there for us. It took nearly most of the prior summer to organize the hundreds of documents that were uploaded to Moodle, but once the school year started I couldn't have been happier.
Instead of having to get copies made and organize mountains of papers during that first week of school, my desk was clean. Instead of having to worry about getting a handout to an absent student when he returned, I didn't give it a thought. Instead of organizing trays and folders to receive students' work throughout the day, I spent my time working with the students on their projects.
For me, going paperless was liberating. And my students really seem to like it as well. Instead of carrying/organizing a cumbersome notebook, they have organized all of their handouts (downloaded from Moodle) and notes (taken on their computers during class) in their student folder on the school computer. They take tests and quizzes on Moodle and get an instant grade as soon as they hit the "submit" button. They hand in all programming assignments on Moodle and like the fact that they can do so from home at anytime day or night. Their grades are easy to view on Moodle and they particularly like the forums that are set up to discuss class topics.
It even has come in handy with regard to classroom management. When the class is getting off task or noisy, we set up a chat on Moodle and no one is allowed to speak out loud. All discussions of a topic are made in an instant-message-like environment and it really helps to get them focused and encourage participation.
In the end, going paperless and using a content-delivery system such as Moodle has given me a lot more time to spend with the students and less time being a "paper shuffler" and "organizer freak." And now with new collaborative tools learned this summer, there is so much more I can add to this environment that will benefit both myself and my tech-loving students.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
OH, to have a clean desk wouldn't that be a nice thing?
Becky - you are my hero. Well done, you. Although we have no idea what the workplace will really look like in 5 years, the ability to interact and produce digitally will certainly be a skill students need. You are creating a learning environment students need.
I am seriously considering having my Comp students submit papers electronically this next semester. I have a TabletPC. I can still add my "personal touch" to their papers. You may be asking why I haven't already - considering I live and breath web 2.0 tools. Well, there are only so many hours in a day and so much energy in this body! I'm working on it. :-D
Lee Anne
Post a Comment