File Management with Students

 

#cotlf #edtech #vitalcpd One of the biggest obstacles students run into when working on tech projects is finding the files they need. You can help prevent this! Teach your kids to organize their work.

Left to their own devices, more often than not, kids forget where they saved or what they named a file. As a result, they often lose lots of time looking for their work or even recreating it, leading to lost class time and great frustration. To prevent this problem, help your kids get organized. Make them create a folder for your class (i.e. English 9), where they will save all files for your class. When you start a new project that will require more than one file to complete (i.e. MovieMaker), have your students create a subfolder within their class folder, and insist that they all name the folder something you assign (i.e. Memoirs). Tell students to save ALL files for their projects in that project’s folder—regardless of whether it’s a photo, music, or other type of file.

If you teach high school, then that’s probably enough instruction. But for younger grades, or less tech savvy students, take it one step further. Tell your students what to name their files as well. That way, if they STILL manage to “lose” a file, you’ll know what the file is called, making it much easier to find!  Although this may seem a bit over the top, you’ll be amazed at how much time and heartache this procedure will save you and your students! It will also help students learn how to organize and name their files. Without a little guidance, students often pile all their files into one folder with no regard for organization, or pay little attention to the file name, winding up with files cleverly named “Publisher 1”, “Publisher 2”, etc. After many years of this, they will not be able to find anything! Taking the time to help them get organized will make a big difference for them and for you.