This three-part series explores ways in which students would like to see the classroom evolve to meet the needs of today's learners. Each deck's content features an individual student's ideas.

1. Ways to Evolve Your
Classroom From a
Student’s Perspective
Student Voices: Part 1
9

2. Welcome to Student Voices
Student Voices is a three-part series that explores students’
views on the current state of the classroom and areas for
potential change.
We hope you find their ideas refreshing,
thought-provoking, and encouraging.

3. Evolving the classroom
doesn’t mean adding
technology, it means
becoming more efficient.
Rebecca Lynn Paul, a student at the University of Arizona,
explores ways in which the 21st century classroom can become
more efficient and better prepare learners for the workplace.
“
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4. Save Trees (And Sanity)
The situation:
Printers can be difficult to find on some
campuses, many students do not own one,
and they waste paper.
Quick fact:
In 2015, there were roughly 50 million
students enrolled at United States colleges
and universities. If every one of them had
to turn in just one 20-page essay, it would
equal 1 billion sheets of paper harvested
from 11,000 trees.

5. What you can do:
1. Let students submit their homework online.
Online learning platforms enable instructors to
closely manage deadlines, milestones, and due
dates as well as help both the instructor and
students stay organized.
2. Some online learning environments can
scan student essays and research papers for
plagiarism to help promote academic integrity.
Save Trees (And Sanity)

6. Stick With One System
The situation:
Learning management systems (LMS) are useful,
generally well designed, and provide a hub for
academic interaction and collaboration. However,
there are just too many systems.
Quick fact:
Students often have to utilize four or five different
platforms every day to turn in assignments, access
syllabi, schedule appointments with advisors, or
complete homework.

7. What you can do:
3. Integrating systems such as a
publisher-provided platform into
LMSs like Blackboard®
is an easy way
to reduce the number of systems a
student has to access.
Stick With One System

8. The situation:
Instructor-provided tips and tricks
for students are extremely helpful.
Apps help people manage their
workloads and their lives, so why
not utilize them in the classroom?
Make Learning
App-licable

9. What you can do:
4. Let students know which apps you
find helpful and valuable so that they
could use the same apps to organize
their learning.
5. Suggest appropriate apps related to
the course material. For example, an Art
History professor might encourage his
or her students to use a particular image
flash card app as a study aid.
Make Learning
App-licable

10. Stay Relevant
The situation:
Students are focused on their futures.
Can I get the internship I want? What
jobs will I be able to get before and
after graduation?
Quick fact:
The 21st century student’s main goal
is to acquire the skills that can be
transferred to the workplace.

11. What you can do:
6. Encourage students to think about their
careers and encourage their drive for future
success by relating learning activities to
real-world applications.
7. Students often misinterpret learning activities
as “busy work.” But when you help students
focus on the bigger picture while learning
the basics, you will also see a rise in student
engagement and participation.
Stay Relevant

12. Clean Up
Communication
The situation:
Students utilize many forms of
communication; they tweet, text,
email, and chat. With all of these
choices, the lines of communication
etiquette can become blurred.

13. What you can do:
8. If you see something inappropriate,
say something. Sometimes students don’t
necessarily know how to conduct themselves
professionally in online communication and
could use some gentle reminders.
9. What should we include in our email
signatures? How should we address people
in professional communication? When do we
need to be formal and when can we relax?
Answering these questions can help students
develop the “soft skills” employers desire.
Clean Up
Communication