Going paperless (or at least less-paper)

Two things are prompting this post:

1. The recent post to faculty and staff about how much paper we use
2. Some documents that my advisee asked me to print for her today (since she was having trouble with the printer).  This included a document where she had used color-coding for analyzing a piece of writing-- colors that didn't translate when printed in black & white!  I had to wonder if her teacher for that class would have found it a whole lot easier to have a digital workflow that eliminated the paper chase and leveraged tools for collaboration and feedback.

image from bluesnap at pixabay

Bottom line

we use lots and lots of paper.  And not only could we use a lot less, there are many situations where a paperless solution actually works far better.  This isn't hypothetical--I speak here from the experience of many CVU teachers (myself included).

One concern I hear is that it can be hard to keep track of electronic documents and that students sometimes blame technology for losing their work.  Let me address each of these:

1. There are tools available that automatically create folders for each of the students in your class (with the proper sharing rights assigned), then can create individual documents for each student based on a template you provide and put them into those folders.   
2. As for "losing" work, I would argue that a digital solution actually provides a better system for tracking the workflow (and accountability).  No more "I put it in your mail box" confusions.  The key is not to have students emailing things in a haphazard fashion.  Again, there are tools designed to handle the submission of work and the feedback cycle.
3. Speaking of the feedback cycle, one of the beauties of a digital workflow is that teachers can comment on student work in different ways, including recorded voice comments.  Plus, the comment trail is preserved, so you can always go back and review the back-and-forth between student and teacher (or for peer feedback, etc.).

How about trying some of this out on an upcoming assignment?  I'd be happy to set the whole thing up for you, or to walk you through it.  I think you'll be pleased with the results.

Thanks in advance for considering it.