I never thought I'd see the day that students want to do something the pedagogical way but the teacher won't let them.
My daughter's Civics class has a project that involves groups of students each writing their part then submitting the result. What does her group do? The leader begins a Google Doc and they each contribute their part.
That's right! In my classes, a small but vocal group wish they could just write on paper. Although the vast majority see the value of working online, it is a long and trying process to teach them the tools. They are NOT as digital savvy as we make them out to be! They know how to navigate a few apps, but generally speaking, it's hard work teaching them tools for learning and collaborating.
It's a blessing to get students that have moved ahead and learned on their own how to use something like Google Docs. Awesome!
So what of my daughter's group and their assignment? When my daughter's group finishes their online collaborative document, each of them will need to copy the whole thing on paper to individually submit. They asked; the teacher will not accept the Google Doc.
If you are reading this, I would bet that last bit sounds ridiculous. I figure if you're reading anything online, the whole idea of not being able to accept student work as a collaborative document complete with contributor history & feedback capability is just silly. These students have already learned how to do this; it's the teacher who can't handle it.
I don't think the teacher needs to be the top expert in the room. I have no problem with students going beyond the teacher's skills. After all, teachers are coaches, not star athletes. But to not even be willing to keep up with modern workflows is just plain odd. It's like a mechanic teacher not being able to show students fuel injection because the carburetor is as far as they got.
Sure, there's a few things to learn. How to annotate a digital document and give effective feedback. How to organize your online submissions (not all boards turn on the Google Classroom feature). Letting go of those plastic bins and ready-made file folders.
But those who have made the switch never go back. Their efforts pay off. I'd die for more students that already know their way around an online environment for school purposes.