Why I Still Use Paper Worksheets in My Digital ESL Classroom

I work in a very digital ESL world. Screens are everywhere, and there’s often an assumption that if something can be done online, it should be. For a long time, I felt like I had to explain why I still used paper worksheets.

I don’t anymore.

Much of my ESL work has been in poorer areas of Hong Kong, where digital access was never guaranteed. Even before COVID, “digital classroom” often meant shared devices or unreliable internet.

When schools closed, that reality became impossible to ignore. For many families, online learning simply wasn’t practical and Zoom lessons where not even approaching half measures

Paper was. A worksheet on a desk worked every time.

There’s also something personal about it. I still have old workbooks from when I was a child, and even some of my mother’s. You can see progress in them. You can see effort. Learning feels physical in a way screens rarely do.

At primary level where I work, especially, worksheets do more than check answers. They help with

• handwriting, ( you can read more here)
• hand-eye coordination,
• and fine motor control.

Writing slows students down in a good way.

Digital tools are efficient, but efficiency isn’t the same as learning. This isn’t anti-technology. It’s just what experience has taught me.

Focus beats novelty

One of the quiet problems with screens is how easily they pull attention away, even in a well-run class. Students look busy, but they’re often clicking more than they’re thinking. Switching tabs, tapping buttons, waiting for something to load. It all adds noise.

With paper, that noise disappears, well, at least that side of noise…I do teach in primary schools after all!

When a worksheet is on the desk, there’s only one place to look. Students read the question. They write an answer. If they’re stuck, it shows. There’s no hiding behind auto-feedback or guessing until something turns green.

I’ve also noticed the difference in classroom silence. Screen silence often means distraction. Paper silence usually means focus. You can see heads down, pencils moving, small pauses where real thinking, be it correct or incorrect, is happening.

Novelty wears off quickly. Focus doesn’t. And for many students, especially younger ones, paper still does a better job of keeping their attention where it needs to be, even if that is still sometimes on their friends worksheet next to them!

Paper slows students down

One of the biggest advantages of paper is how much it slows students down. That might sound like a negative, but in language learning, it’s usually the opposite.

When students write by hand, they think more carefully about what they’re doing. They’re less likely to rush, guess, or click through an activity just to finish it.

Mistakes become visible, both to them and to me. That makes feedback more meaningful.

i mean on the site we have literally Thousands of free Worksheets to download along side a suite of classroom and mobile apps, we clearly liek to use both – its not a zero sum game here. Its what works!

With digital activities, it’s easy for weaker students to hide. They can try again and again until something works, without really understanding why.

On paper, every answer stays there. You can see patterns. You can see confusion. You can see progress.

For younger learners, this matters even more. Writing supports spelling, sentence structure, and memory in a way typing often doesn’t. It also builds control. Holding a pencil, forming letters, and spacing words properly all play a role in how children process language.

Slower doesn’t mean worse. In many cases, it means deeper.

Classroom control and pacing

Digital lessons look smooth when everything works. In real classrooms, they rarely do. Devices need charging. Logins fail. Someone can’t find the right page. Another student is suddenly offline.

None of that is planned, but it eats time.

Paper removes most of those problems. Hand out a worksheet and the lesson starts. Everyone begins at the same moment, at the same pace. If someone finishes early, they turn the page. If someone needs help, it’s obvious.

This matters for classroom control. When students are waiting for screens to load or instructions to appear, behaviour slips. With paper, momentum is easier to keep. The class moves together instead of fragmenting into twenty small tech issues.

It isn’t exciting, but it’s reliable. And reliability is what keeps lessons calm and productive.

Confidence matters more than engagement numbers

Digital tools often promise higher engagement, but that doesn’t always translate into confidence. For some students, screens make mistakes feel permanent.

Answers are recorded, tracked, and sometimes shared. That can be intimidating, especially for quieter or weaker learners.

Paper feels different. A wrong answer can be crossed out. A sentence can be rewritten. There’s less pressure to be perfect on the first attempt.

I’ve seen students who barely participate on screens become more willing to try on paper. They write something, even if it’s not quite right. That first attempt matters. Confidence grows from trying, not from clicking until something works.

Engagement is easy to measure. Confidence isn’t. But in language learning, confidence is often the thing that makes the real difference.

Where digital tools genuinely work

This might sound odd coming from someone defending paper, but I use digital tools all the time. My own site is full of online games, learning apps, and resources built around technology. You have probably used them before you foudn this article.

I write about AI, virtual reality, and augmented reality in classrooms because those tools do have real potential and i use them often, just not that often

Digital works especially well for input. Listening practice, video prompts, pronunciation models, and revision tasks are often better online. Students can replay, pause, and practise independently in a way paper can’t match.

Where digital struggles is when it replaces thinking rather than supporting it. Used well, technology extends learning. Used badly, it becomes a shortcut. The tool isn’t the problem. How and why it’s used matters far more.

So I think of the “digital Age” as a tool not a Crutch

Education is always full of new ideas, and that isn’t a bad thing. Classrooms should evolve. But old methods aren’t wrong just because they’re old. Improvements should serve learning, not school marketing or change for its own sake.

Paper has lasted because it works. It supports thinking, control, and confidence in ways newer tools still struggle to match. Digital tools should earn their place by doing something better, not simply newer.

Of the hundreds of great educators i could have quoted I, releasing my inner Nerd, think this one fits pretty well from Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park that sums this up nicely: I paraphrase it though 😛

we can get very excited asking whether we can do something, and forget to ask whether we should.

In teaching, that question still matters. For me, the answer has been balance. Paper for thinking. Digital for support and involvment.

Not because it looks modern, but because it works.

Further Reading

• The Importance of Handwriting on Learning” (Frontiers in Psychology)
• UNESCO report on COVID-19 and unequal access to online learning
• OECD reports on parental involvement in learning
• Edutopia articles on effective classroom technology use