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At the end of the day, digital assignments are better than physical assignments. The question appears quite often on the role of digital versus traditional. Paper assignments take a toll with less benefits.
Teachers frequently make the switch, typically resorting to paper assignments. The facts remain that 42 million trees are cut daily for paper and other paper related products according to 8billiontrees.com. This doesn’t include the expenses of paper, toner, staples, and any other materials that are needed. However, when push comes to shove, technology is the key to the future with little to no additional costs for the same learning forum.
This resource is conventional and convenient. The mere ease of the process of uploading assignments, copying online resources, and submitting completed assignments is, needless to say, an easy transition. In the moment of an what kind of error? Tech? Typos? , it is easy to make a quick fix. Then there is the time that traditional assignments may take in a classroom. Switching between assignments are immediate with very little time for error, or even a quick time frame to fix an error. In comparison, teachers are dealing with printing hundreds of worksheets per day, fighting with copy machine errors, and gathering resources not conveniently able to fix. It is so much easier to jot down footnotes and write every and all remarks digitally, as it is much more organized.
Most students strive on technical devices and strongly rely on digital assignments. It’s an opportunity to truly show your work and thought process. The benefits that digital assignments have are that they can easily fix errors, quick communication and immediate feedback. Traditional assignments require extra resources. On paper, we are required to have a pencil, lead, eraser, pens, highlighters, or colored pens/pencils/markers. Delete, you already used this phrase earlierEach of these tools are on our iPads and are quicker and easier to access.
Student iPads are easily accessible whenever and wherever. Even when technology chooses to not cooperate, the fact that assignments are accessible on any other technology resource: personal iPads, laptops, desktops, phones and every possible location (public libraries, school libraries, and classrooms). Evidently it leaves little room for excuses and errors, promoting responsible and independent students. This is also important for students who are not physically present in class. This may be an absence, sports, or activities. No matter what the reason, digital forums allow easy access to the material that may be missing, lessons, readings, assignments, etc. Paper assignments are just a hassle creating more clutter to the bags of sports equipment, band equipment, and major projects that we are hauling day in and day out. It’s so much easier to stay organized while online. I simply can slip all notes in one folder and call it a day. It makes research and multitasking so much easier. It even exposes Canvas in order to prepare students for college since all community colleges and CSU’s use this platform to expand learning.
The role of traditional assignments omits the goal of preparing graduating students for the real digital works. Society has come a long way to discover the best advanced, helpful technology for us to work with, and it’s better than ever. Although everyone has different preferences, digital has greater advantages.
