The Role of Digital Tools in Sustainable Education

Fostering climate awareness in the next generation of learners should be a priority for today’s teachers. Kids must understand the basic mechanics of climate change if we are to keep global warming below the 1.5°C threshold, and educators play a key role in creating climate-aware citizens. 

Educators who wish to raise awareness for topics like environmental advocacy and low-emission living can lead by example by utilizing digital tools that make education more sustainable. Digital tools are more sustainable, flexible, and engaging than paper worksheets and offer a greater range of lesson plans. 

Leveraging digital teaching tools also helps facilitate digital literacy. Tomorrow’s citizens will need to be savvy web users in order to advocate for climate justice and environmental responsibility. 

The Environmental Impact of Paper Worksheets

Using paper worksheets for a single class may not seem like a newsworthy issue. However, when printing paper worksheets is scaled up to account for an entire school's needs, the environmental impact of education becomes clear. 

Schools use paper — a lot of it, at around 2,000 sheets of paper every day. When scaled up on a national level, the US education system churns through 32 billion sheets of paper per year. This quickly becomes costly, too. The average sheet of paper costs 5 cents, meaning the average school spends $16,000 per year on paper alone. 

Printing also comes with a huge environmental impact. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in toner can lead to soil and water pollution, and most printing jobs produce carbon emissions that harm the environment. 

While the recycling rate of paper has increased to 67.9%, the simple fact remains that the best way to reduce waste is to avoid producing it altogether. By switching to digital teaching materials, educators can lead by example and prove to students that it's possible to live a no-waste lifestyle in the digital age. 

Planning a No-Waste Semester

Reducing paper waste begins long before the semester starts. As any educator knows, preparing for term time requires plenty of planning. Typically, this means that teachers will go through several iterations of syllabi, lesson plans, worksheets, and teaching statements. 

Rather than printing each version of these documents, educators can minimize waste and increase their efficiency by utilizing digital tools like concept maps. A concept map can be used across devices and allow for: 

• Easy revisions and re-organization of ideas;

• Importing files and embedding linked content; 

• Online sharing with students, teachers, and other educational stakeholders;

• Real-time collaboration; 

• Integration with existing tools like Google Docs and Workplace.

The power of digital concept maps far outstrips traditional methods like writing syllabi by hand. Teachers can edit their work in real time and share their lesson plans digitally with incoming students before the semester begins. 

Unlocking the Potential of Digital Learning

Digital tools aren’t just more sustainable — they’re more effective, too. Teachers who create sustainable, low-waste digital lesson plans can empower young minds in the digital world by promoting digital literacy. Students need to feel confident using a range of user interfaces (UI) and should be given the freedom to express their creative interests while in school. 

Teachers who wish to utilize more digital materials should promote responsible digital citizenship in the classroom. Fears about cyberbullying can undermine educator’s ability to roll out digital teaching materials. Equally, promoting digital citizenship can make students more aware of dangers like misinformation and scams that seek to expose personal information. 

Cultivating digital literacy can be a lot of fun, too. Educators who want to tap into the power of digital education can utilize services like the Digital Museum of Learning (DML) to empower students and provide an equitable learning experience. The DML offers a customized teaching zone that includes: 

• Customized learning journeys for student’s needs;

• The ability to share content with the class;

• Progress tracking to measure engagement;

• A wide breadth of educational materials to suit the needs of different curriculums.

Leveraging these digital teaching tools can make distance learning possible, too. These tools can be transformative for home-schooled children who require access to a broad range of resources. Rather than requiring these children to print, educators can utilize resources like those offered by the US Distance Learning Association. These resources can increase the quality of educators' lesson plans while proving that low-waste learning doesn’t have to compromise student’s academic attainment. 

Conclusion

Using digital tools in education is a great way to reduce waste and minimize carbon emissions. Switching from paper teaching materials to digital resources can empower students and will support efforts to create more digitally literate citizens in the future. This is crucial, as the students of today will need to exhibit critical thinking and awareness of misinformation if efforts to combat climate change and reduce waste are to be successful.