Reimagining Notes, Classwork, and Homework with Reusable Rocketbook by Carmen Brent

Students are ready for the future!

A simple glance around most classrooms reveals all the standard educational materials: pens, pencils, books, paper, desks, boards, students, and teachers. Many classrooms also now include 1:1 devices like laptops, I-pads, or Chromebooks, which students may or may not tote along with their other supplies. Often students feel a disconnect from their lives outside of class, where they face ever changing technology that fits in the palms of their hands. One superbly easy way to connect student work both in and out of the classroom with the evolution of technology involves the use of Rocketbooks, “notebooks from the future.” Rocketbooks truly change the way students and teachers alike think about note-taking, classwork, and homework.

What is a Rocketbook?

No ordinary notebook — a Rocketbook is a notebook that merges the physical activities of writing and drawing with digital recordkeeping. This cutting-edge notebook allows users to handwrite or draw on actual paper in a notebook. Then, a simple scan of the page using the Rocketbook app allows the handwritten information to upload seamlessly to the digital cloud with options to send the digital copy to an email, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Then, the user erases whatever was on the page through the use of a Frixion pen eraser, water (Core*), dry erase cloth (Color**) or the microwave (Wave***)! After erasing the page, it can be used again and again.

How are Rocketbooks beneficial?

• They eliminate unnecessary paper. You can reuse the notebook but retain the information from the notebook (in a digital form). It is the best of both worlds.
• They sync with Google Drive and other platforms where students can easily access their scans. This is the technology people use in the workforce and life after high school; we are preparing students for their future by exposing them to the technology they will use after leaving high school.
• They allow students to process information visually in a hard copy format. Many students are heavily visual learners. Using Rocketbooks allows them to create meaningful notes that include charts, graphics, and other visual stimuli, which aid students in understanding, retaining, and applying the educational concepts they learn. Simply typing words into a Google Doc cannot parallel visual notetaking.
• They foster peer collaboration. Because students easily create a digital copy of something handwritten or drawn, they also effectively share that information for discussion, evaluation, and group projects. Some students swiftly draw the ideas and concepts that come to mind but struggle with expressing everything in words first. With Rocketbooks, students can share visual ideas as well as written words.
• They are innovative. Rocketbooks are making great strides in advancing the way people take notes, write, and draw. This is a wonderful, new technology to which most students likely do not already have access.

Who do Rocketbooks benefit?

Students, students, students! Rocketbooks would benefit both current and future students. A classroom set of Rocketbooks ensures that over 100 current students have access to this incredible new technology. Students might use the notebooks individually, in pairs, or in groups for various assignments and projects. Students can interact with other classes as well. Because students create digital copies of their work, the benefits continue beyond the school community if students publish their work on a website or blog. The possibilities are infinite, exactly like the number of times someone can use the Rocketbook Core or Color. My students also frequently use their notebooks for planning, scheduling, and reminders. Students also enjoy not carrying five to seven different notebooks to keep track of all their notes. Since they can digitize what they write and organize that within their Google Drives, they lessen the weight in their book bags and strengthen their organizational skills. Teaching students how to organize themselves more efficiently will certainly impact their futures.

Teachers, teachers, teachers! Rocketbooks allow students to easily digitize their work, which can make grading it much easier. If teachers use Rocketbooks and Google Classroom together, students post their work in Google Classroom, where teachers can grade it with the Google Classroom app and physically add comments (like they would hard copy, but in a digital format!). Many of my students say they love using their Rocketbooks for math class because it’s pretty difficult to graph a parabola in Google Drawings, but they can swiftly upload the graph they drew in their Rocketbook. Additionally, I have had student groups upload drawings to include in Google Slides presentations, which means so much more to them than scouring Google for an image that looks kind of like what they imagine.

*Rocketbook Core — uses Frixion pens/markers; erases with a damp cloth; infinitely reusable

**Rocketbook Color — uses dry erase markers/crayons/colored pencils; infinitely reusable

***Rocketbook Wave — uses Frixion pens/markers; erases in the microwave; reusable approximately 5 times

Originally published at medium.com on February 10, 2019.