A Paperless Class

Are paperless classes a reality?  I think they can be.  There are many colleges and universities moving towards paperless classes and for more than just the reason of saving money on books and other printed materials.  Just because the class is paperless doesn’t mean everything is online.  The class can still meet and face-to-face teaching and learning can still occur.  This method of organizing a class can allow the students’ work to be more interactive and include links to websites, graphics, and sound clips.  Teachers can correct or make comments to their written work using the Comment feature in Microsoft Word or other online editing features.  I think the teacher can still teach and would have to plan ahead and have all of the materials organized in a readable format for the students to be able to access at any time.  The online communication piece may be a learning experience for a teacher.  If they are using a site like Blackboard or Moodle, etc. the teacher would have to learn how to use these technologies comfortably before the class begins.  Students would have access to the material all of the time which would be very beneficial to them to have that flexibility.  I feel that the students would have more involvement in the course if they were able to access and publish work online during a class.  I don’t think having a paperless class diminishes the learning environment.  I think it promotes it and involves the students more.  This type of classroom can blend both online learning and the traditional classroom setting environment and can be successful in doing so.  As students are involved in this type of classroom, they not only improve their comfort level, but they expand their collaborations with others and build their own learning networks.  It provides them with a unique learning opportunity which I believe is going to become even more common in the next few years.

Here is a link to Melanie Wiscount's website - I saw a presentation by her at the 2012 PETE&C Conference in Hershey, PA.  She runs a paperless class: 

http://www.melaniewiscount.com/