Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Kimberly Angeles, Yale Daily News.
At Yale, there are professors who already require students to leave technology behind when they come to class. Now some others are insisting on hard copy for reading material.

By the time we moved to the retirement community, our five newspaper subscriptions were all online. I knew that if I wanted the old hard-copy experience here, I could always go downstairs to the library.

But reading the news online is not the same. There are topics I used to read about more in depth. I also feel that giving up paper has affected how conscientious I am as a citizen.

I learned in today’s article that some professors at Yale University find reading hard copy “improves the quality of class time by orders of magnitude,” which has got me wondering if should go back to paper for at least one subscription. But then there’s the issue of generating unnecessary litter.

Jolynda Wang wrote about this conflict at the Yale Daily News in January.

“This academic year, some English professors have increased their preference for physical copies of readings, citing concerns related to artificial intelligence.

“Many English professors have identified the use of chatbots as harmful to critical thinking and writing. Now, professors who had previously allowed screens in class are tightening technology restrictions.

“Professor Kim Shirkhani, who teaches ‘Reading and Writing the Modern Essay,’ explained that for about a decade prior to this semester, she did not require printed readings. This semester, she is requiring all students to have printed options.

“ ‘Over the years I’ve found that when students read on paper, they’re more likely to read carefully, and less likely in a pinch to read on their phones or rely on chatbot summaries,’ Shirkhani wrote to the News.

‘This improves the quality of class time by orders of magnitude.’ …

“Last semester, professor Pamela Newton, who also teaches the course, allowed students to bring readings either on tablets or in printed form. While laptops felt like a ‘wall’ in class, Newton said, students could use iPads to annotate readings and lie them flat on the table during discussions. However, Newton said she felt ‘paranoid’ that students could be texting during class.

“This semester, Newton has removed the option to bring iPads to class, except for accessibility needs, as a part of the general movement in the ‘Reading and Writing the Modern Essay’ seminars to ‘swim against the tide of AI use,’ reduce ‘the infiltration of tech,’ and ‘go back to pen and paper,’ she said.

“Regarding the printing cost, Newton and Shirkhani both emphasized that Yale has programs to help students who need financial assistance paying for printing. …

“Other English professors are maintaining preexisting no-technology policies.

“Professor Nancy Yousef, continuing from her approach at previous schools, has kept a requirement for printed readings.

“ ‘The English classroom is increasingly a kind of special place where it’s still possible to converse without the screen,’ Yousef said in a phone interview. ‘AI only seems to make it more imperative to make sure that students are having a direct experience with the text.’

“Yousef explained that literature courses are a ‘practice of attention and a practice of learning how to ask a good question.’ Yousef said she hopes students come away from class with greater questions and increased engagement with the texts rather than ‘a set of bullet points that can go on a PowerPoint.’

“Writing professor Anne Fadiman wrote to the News that she asks students to buy the course packet and, when possible, to use physical copies of the books.

“ ‘When you read a book or a printed course packet, you turn real pages instead of scrolling, so you have a different, more direct, and (I think) more focused relationship with the words,’ Fadiman wrote.

“Professors who continue to allow technology in their classroom cite printing costs and concerns about paper usage.

“Professor Stephanie Kelley does not require students to bring printed readings and allows technology ‘for accessibility, cost-related and environmental reasons. … It can be a lot of paper, most of it going straight in the bin once class is done.’ …

“In the fall, Yale College Council Senators Siena Valdivia ’28, Alex Chen ’28 and Alexander Medel ’27 — who is a staff writer for the News — sponsored a $3,500 stipend prioritizing first-generation, low-income students to receive financial aid for printing costs. …

“ ‘In an ideal world, printing would be subsumed into the fiscal responsibilities of the university. But under further priority reconfiguring in light of the endowment tax, any such changes face an uphill climb,’ Chen wrote to the News, referring to the upcoming increase in the federal tax on Yale’s investment returns, which was enacted as part of [the] One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.”

More at Yale Daily News, here.