In the past week, I’ve had several people pick up my backpack and immediately remark at how heavy it was. It is not something that I notice anymore, but when I started to think about it, it didn’t make much sense. I only carry around three things in my backpack: my lunch, computer, and binder. A sandwich typically doesn’t weigh that much, and they call the computer an “Air” for a reason, which just leaves the binder. With the size and weight of the binder, I started questioning the point of carrying around the papers inside it. When we live in such a technologically advanced world, are handouts still necessary?
I have at times considered switching to all digital file keeping, but the task has proven more difficult in reality than theory. Implementing a digital system from the student side would reduce the weight in my backpack but add steps of scanning all the handouts I’m given and then reprinting them if I need them in a future class. The added inconvenience of this approach seems to outweigh the benefits.
The other possibility is a top down solution in which teachers supply handouts digitally and students fill them out and submit them. This approach was used in the COVID age and while at the time I adjusted to it, it is not ideal. As much as I use technology, it’s hard to replace the feeling of pencil on paper, and I don’t think everybody should be forced to go all digital if they prefer the traditional method.
So what does this mean? Are handouts still necessary? I would argue that there are still alternatives. What I would suggest is a mix of the first two options. In my day to day classes, there are two types of handouts: short term and long term. Short term handouts are used for that class and can be submitted or discarded at the end. These handouts could be kept on paper and filled out just fine. Long term handouts could have paper and digital options and be submitted in a standardized way (either printed or digitally). By following this format, we would avoid the complications of tests and scanning a bunch of papers, while still reducing the number of papers.
Up until this point I was mainly focusing my thoughts on handouts that have to be filled out. Now I turn to the reading packets. Most reading packets are already provided in digital forms, which I enjoy. Our generation has grown up in a world of growing technology, and when it comes to school the most useful thing that comes to mind is CMD-F. The morality of using CMD-F is disputed. Personally, I think that it should be fair game as it doesn’t simplify the reading as an AI would, and is most useful when recalling parts of the text for evidence. Just today, I remembered a statistic from a reading I did and was unable to go back and locate it. Having reading packets digitally enables students to easily look back and find information for use in projects and discussions, which I argue does not take away from the reading assignment.
The next consideration I take is for books. I think physical books are important, and personally I don’t like reading books online. However, for the same research reasons, I think having access to a digital copy of the book is sometimes nice. In my English class, sometimes we struggle to find quotes from earlier in the book, and I’ve been able to find them by going to Google Books, which for whatever reason allows you to CMD-F a whole book.
Writing this article has made me want to give going fully digital another shot, maybe only for a day. Sure, I might have to scan some documents but it is getting closer to reality.
