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Handwritten in Schools
Submitted: Two Sides North America March 31, 2026
The rampant use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by students has educators revisiting an old testing staple: the bluebook. These slim exam booklets have been revived to become the tool of choice in the ongoing battle to discourage cheating by using ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Now professors are reintroducing handwritten in-class exams in schools. A December 2024 survey by The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center asked 337 higher education leaders about the use of GenAI on their campuses. 59% reported that they believe cheating has increased on their campus with the use of GenAI tools—21% percent reported cheating has increased “a lot.” 54% of those educational leaders also reported that they do not believe their faculty are effective in recognizing GenAI created content.
That’s where the return to paper comes in. According to The Wall Street Journal, the revival of pen-and-paper exams has significantly increased blue book sales. At the University of Florida, for example, the 2024-2025 school year saw a 50% increase in sales and as much as 80% at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Full details about the use of AI in schools can be found at:
About Two Sides North America
Two Sides North America is a member-supported non-profit advocacy organization for the paper, paper-based packaging, direct mail and graphic communications industries. Our goal is to dispel common environmental misconceptions and to inspire and inform businesses and consumers with engaging, factual information about the environmental sustainability and value of print, paper, and paper-based packaging. We are the only group working to dispel and remove Greenwashing language used by companies and organizations in North America.
To learn more about Two Sides North America and how to become a member, please visit twosidesna.org.
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