Over the past few months, you have likely heard about the worldwide paper shortage that is affecting the ability of Douglas College to procure paper for printers and photocopiers. Staff, faculty members, and students have all been asked to reduce the amount of paper they use.
Yesterday, I was having a conversation with another faculty member about the frustrations we are all encountering as we attempt to find creative ways to complete reading and writing tasks in our classes. I started sharing some of the ways I was able to reduce the amount of paper I was using in my writing class and I thought it might be good for me to write up something to share with everyone.
This post is not meant to be an exhaustive list of ideas, but simply some ways I have made this work and also some plans on what I will be trying out in the future. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments.
Microsoft Forms📱
This is one of the common ways I have students do short writing tasks and responses. It can also be used for ranking exercises and polling. I wrote up a post on how I use Forms in my classes which you can check out here.
The most common way I have them use Forms is to display the QR code from the form on the screen at the front of the class and students then work individually or in pairs/groups to complete the task. After they are done, I share the results on the screen, and we debrief together. Students found it simple to do and I found it easy to create. A win/win.
Student notebooks📒
Instead of photocopying things for students, think about possibly displaying things on the slides at the front of the class and then have students work in a simple lined-paper notebook which they can purchase for cheap from almost anywhere. I did this quite a bit with my students. If I wanted to keep a copy of their work for providing feedback, I would use my tablet or phone to take a photo of it and then upload the photo to Blackboard so I could give them my feedback. Some students also just took the page out of their notebook and gave it to me.
Larger printouts in groups📃
Some of the best activities this past semester involved printing a simple structure (i.e., a graphic organizer) on 11×17 sheets of paper. I would only print out one per group, which usually meant I only had to print out about 5-6 sheets total. Students would do their work in groups directly on the larger paper and then I would have them post the sheets around the room for other groups to view and provide comments. I would sometimes take photos of those and post those on Blackboard for review.
Computer labs🖥️
If I needed each student to have access to a writing task, I would book a computer lab for them to do the work individually. I could then make use of Blackboard and Office 365 to create their work and have others review it.
Whiteboards🖊️
I use the whiteboards in the classroom a lot. I bring in a few pens and have students work in groups right on the whiteboard. This obviously doesn’t work for longer tasks, but it does work for shorter writing and response activities.
Blackboard Ultra🤳
As Blackboard Ultra becomes available to all faculty, students and faculty will find its more mobile-friendly approach much better for completing in-class activities. You could have groups, or even individuals, complete shorter tasks on their phones and other mobile devices using things such as discussion forums and assignments. I plan on making good use of this in the Fall.
I hope that gives you a few ideas on how you can reduce the number of photocopies and printouts you use with your students. Feel free to reach out to ask questions or for help.
