Oct 12
29

Open Thread: Abandoning the Digital?

2 Comments

By Brenda Bethman

Last week, George Williams at ProfHacker “confessed” that he dislikes electronic grading, preferring to grade by hand. A lively discussion ensued in the comments, with folks weighing in on the pros and cons of grading electronically or by hand. At one point, George tried to redirect the comments towards discussing other ways folks used analog over the digital, but for the most part the discussion stayed focused on grading.

I find the question fascinating, though, and thus decided to shamelessly borrow it for our open thread this week as I’m curious to know what things our readers do by hand instead of digitally. For me, it’s three main things: grading, to-do lists, and newspapers. As I mentioned in the comments, I never warmed up to electronic grading (why, I’m not sure), much preferring to scrawl my comments across paper. Similarly, despite having tried (and abandoned) any number to to-do apps, I always end up coming back to this:

as I seem to find it both easier to keep my to-do list by hand and more satisfying (something about crossing things out with a pen versus a digital checkbox makes me feel as I’ve accomplished something).

Finally, I still have a hard copy of the local paper delivered five days per week — and the New York Times on Sundays. I could read both on my iPad, but I dislike the apps for both and again, for me, there’s something about having the paper around that I like. Breakfast without the paper just feels wrong. Maybe I’m just old?

So readers, tell us, what digital ways have you tried and abandoned? What are your analog confessions? Let us know in the comments!

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Posted in Open Thread by brendabethman 2 Comments

  • http://twitter.com/lizgross144 Liz Gross

    This is a little specific, but I’ve tried online vegetable garden planning tools, and I still prefer to lay them out with graph paper.

    For grading (for me it’s editing, as I’m not formally teaching anything) I like to use the Track Changes function in Word, but only when my collaborators actually know how to do it. And when I’m editing my own work (dissertation) I use Track Changes but then eventually print a copy to mark up with red pen because my eyes get fatigued.

    I’ve given up reading paper newspapers, but I do still write to-do lists and shopping lists on paper MOST of the time, even though apps exist for that.

    • http://brendabethman.com Brenda Bethman

      Great examples, Liz! When I edit docs, I use track changes — but for grading, I always come back to hand. Go figure.