To my friends: I know, my blog got all formal 'n' stuff. I apologize to anyone who's disappointed, which means you, Eli Moss, the only person who reads this anymore now that I'm not in Denmark. Hi Eli!
So, what do we do at Goucher, and what don't we do?
Well, I see the school taking some steps towards environmentalism, all of which are admirable. Our dining services do a good job, and we have a very efficient heating and cooling plant. However, we miss the boat on some fairly obvious measures. I somewhat accepted reliance on paper as a fact of life in college until I went to Denmark for a semester. All my classes either encouraged or required that we hand in papers via e-mail, which were returned with comments via "track changes." No paper involved. So, why don't we all do that? Well, professors here have reasons that are understandable, but I'm not sure if they're sufficient. Most of them fall back on "I don't want to stare at a screen all day," or a lack of desire to learn a new piece of technology.
In order to get any kind of environmental initiative pushed through, it has to start with student action on a large scale. The school rarely actively opposes initiatives except on the grounds of funding, and even then they don't push back very hard or for very long if the suggestion is unambiguously the right thing to do. So, in truth, all we have to do is ask. Only a few years ago, SGA made double-sided printing standard on environmental grounds; it's just a question of how much we want it. Of course, the difference between reduced-paper and paperless is significant; nobody really opposed double-sided except for a few professors who were sticklers for proper academic format, and even then they didn't really care that much. Students and professors will oppose a paperless classroom much more.
That said, there are certain things that absolutely should be digital. The course syllabus should always be online, as should reading handouts. Even if a few people decide to print it on their own, we're still saving tons of paper. I'm using very specific examples, but the point is that in nearly all cases, the thing that we could be doing better is raising more of a fuss. The school only very occasionally makes a move on their own without student demand.
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hi eli! thanks for telling me some things!
ReplyDeleteNo problem!
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ReplyDeleteTo Eli's friends: Sorry that Eli C is getting too formal. He has to get graded on his blog for my class but he gets his blog back in about 5 weeks so stay tuned for that. (and in the meantime maybe you'll get to learn something you don't already know) :-)
To Eli C.: I think the paper thing is a good one. I struggle with that one myself as you know (it's a lot of sitting in front of the computer grading.. but at the same time it's totally worth it.) I think about what would make me go more electronic but I'm a little bothered by this idea as well: the iPad. My husband got his on Saturday (he will keep it at his desk to look at academic papers while he is writing (he doesn't print them anymore.) but then I wonder about all the materials that go into making my iPad. Is it worth it? On the paper front. We have a way to go-- increasing the recycled content in our paper, making sure its Chlorine Free, forest stewardship council certified ect. and completely agree with you. We will change our ways if the students lead the effort. I'm not sure if that's 'right' or 'wrong' or whatever but it seems to have an effect. :-) A