Let’s face it, most kids are not the best organizers. So, to expect them to be responsible for organizing their digital data is not something we can expect them to naturally do. During the last two weeks of school I worked with all of the grade 3-5 students to back up their work in preparation for next year.
Some are moving, but many are staying so different types of back ups have been needed. I have been pleasantly surprised that a few kids where on top of the organizing of their data, but the majority had loads of unwanted work still on their iPads and in their Drive accounts.
This got me thinking about my plan for next year. Backing up and then deleting work is going to become a standard part of all of my lessons. It also has me thinking about what goes into digital footprints/citizenship. Kids are now creating digital work from PK. How do we store, share and maintain this work? Do we even bother with keeping years of digital work?
ePortfolios are going to help give students a storage/sharing outlet. But how much do we keep of the not “published” work? Some kids want to keep all of the photos that they have taken from the internet while others don’t. I find the same feelings applies to their digital work.
This year I will make sure as well that the teachers understand the need for backing up an deleting work so that it doesn’t accumulate through the year.