Paperless Class is a First at JCHS
Evan Wolkenstein has memories of horrified students insisting they had left an assignment on his desk. “They would say, ‘I left something on your desk, didn’t you get it?” he recalls, “And then what do you do?”
Well Wolkenstein, who teaches two Jewish Studies courses at JCHS, found a solution: he stopped using paper in his classes. Not a single sheet of paper has been printed, photocopied, handed out or turned in.
“It wasn’t intended to be an ecological thing,” Wolkenstein said. Instead, he was simply tired of lost papers, struggling through student handwriting and the lag time between getting an assignment turned in and returning it.
Now Google Docs, an online word processor, and BibleWorks, a fully digitalized bible, have become the primary tools of his Power and Perception (biblical literature) and Tanach II classes.
Wolkenstein says using all digital materials has let him put more time in the quality of the content in his classes. He deals less with small things like keeping track of paper, and has more time to work on his curriculum. Also, if a typo or different problem becomes apparent on a worksheet, he can fix it in real time on the digital document.
While Wolkenstein is happy with his all-digital classes, and says he believes the resources are available for other teachers who want to make the switch, the transition has not been without problems.
“I never really know what students have on the screen,” he says, “It is so easy, with the flick of a button, to bring up sports scores or Youtube videos.” Wolkesntein adds, “While some students can probably multitask,” for others the computers can be an added distraction.
While Wolkenstein has students lower their screens during discussions and docks class participation points if he sees them on Facebook, his hands are tied when it comes to taking away their computer.
“I’m using a trust bond,” Wolkenstein says, “my job is to teach, your job is to learn… If you’re using your computer for the wrong thing, you’re violating that relationship.”
Outside of not knowing what students are doing on their computers, Wolkenstein says he has also struggled with the internet connection at the school. “I know Tony [Gruen, Director of IT for JCHS] works really hard to keep it running well, but the reality is I feel bad for students who are trying to do work and they can’t get a document open,” he said.
The school has been striving to integrate technology into the classroom over the past couple years, including encouraging the use of laptops in class. Assistant Head of School Mallory Rome says she is familiar with Wolkenstein’s concerns about the wireless internet at the school, but has not heard similar complaints from other teachers. “We need more data,” Rome said, saying she wants to know what other teachers are experiencing before taking any action.
Gruen said by email that he has heard Wolkenstein report problems with the wireless but that, “our systems continue to function normally and at a high rate of performance.” He said the primary problem with the wireless was a manual one, saying someone has been unplugging wireless routers around the school.
Aside from various technical difficulties, Wolkenstein is happy with the transition to paperless classes. He says now it is possible for multiple students to work together on a single online document he has had success using Google Calendar to post assignments.
While Wolkenstein says he has no plans to change the all-digital class format, he is receptive to the sentiments of his students. If students begin saying, “It’s so dumb that we have to do everything on the computer … I would have to pull back,” he said.
He also wants to make sure student experience does not take a back-seat to technology. “I would never want to be like, ‘I serve the computer system first, and the needs of the students second,’” Wolkenstein said.
