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As I was preparing for college, I decided to invest in a new MacBook Air and an iPad paired with the latest Apple Pencil, following the recommendations of many of my friends. They all recommended it as the best way to take notes, study and organize everything I would need for my courses. I quickly discovered that they were right. I could effortlessly switch between different writing tools and change the color or transparency. I could create individual digital notebooks for each of my classes. I could easily annotate lecture slides and add my own notes. I also maintained a digital planner with pages that flipped just like a real one. The possibilities with this technology seemed endless. But the best part was how much lighter my bag became in comparison to my backpack in high school. I didn’t need to carry nearly as many supplies with me, because everything I could possibly need was conveniently stored on my devices.

As technology has continued to rapidly develop, it has greatly reshaped the learning environment. My generation has been at the forefront of this change, and we’ve had to constantly adapt. I remember when Chromebooks were introduced into the classroom, and soon after, it became an essential tool for teaching lessons and engaging in application activities. Almost all my assignments were completed and submitted through digital platforms by the time I was in high school. The change moved towards increasingly implementing technology, but now it seems like education is moving in the opposite direction.

Last year, to my surprise, I had a few classes where technology was limited. Some professors had specific rules about how to use technology and devices in class. I made adjustments to follow each of my professors' rules. However, this semester a majority of my classes have completely eliminated the use of technology by students during class time. An increasing number of my peers’ professors and my professors have banned technology entirely or significantly restricted its use in the classroom. I am forced to take most of my notes with pen and paper again. In addition, many of my professors require all of the readings to be printed out and annotated before class. I’ve had to reinvest in physical notebooks, pens, pencils, highlighters and the list goes on. While I carefully save my printing budget to last me through the year, my bag only grows heavier.

The burden of navigating technology policies, specific professors’ preferences and switching materials used for each class has only added to the anxiety I feel as I navigate new classes and professors. Every first day, “Welcome back” is wrangled with anxiety and a risky decision to pull out a device. It is unnecessarily complicated to ensure I have the supplies and readings I need each day and shuffle through endless papers in my folders. The struggle of planning my schedule around finding a working printer on campus and the patience to work with NDPrint just adds to that. With all the readings stuffed in my bag and notebooks stacked up, the heavy load in my bag continues to weigh me down as I navigate campus.

While professors often teach using technological devices and require students to use their devices to submit homework or as communication channels, students are not given the same freedom to use tools accessible to them to help them learn in the classroom. Oftentimes, educators will explain their reasons for not having devices in the classroom is to protect the learning environment. In my experience, completely banning electronics is only hurting my back and killing the trees. I understand there are benefits to not having technology in the classroom, but with opportune tasks, especially note-taking or accessing readings, technology can help students organize and use devices effectively for learning.

Students who have invested in the future of technology should not have to bear the burden of proving themselves responsible enough to use it in purposeful ways. Devices can take notes without being connected to the internet, notifications can be silenced and completely turned off, many note-taking devices can be laid flat and possible distractions created by devices can be eliminated in the classroom. We should all be able to take advantage of the opportunities technology offers. A meaningful compromise between educators and students could help everyone navigate the increasing prevalence of technology and lighten the unnecessary load students carry.