By developing a straightforward system for storing files we can organise our work much better.
Organising our files is similar to organising our real-world spaces.
Like tidy houses, everything in good file management systems is stored logically and is easy to find.
By storing all their files and folders together and naming them appropriately, learners will be able to locate their work more easily.
Help learners identify a suitable “home” for their files. Storing them on a device means they can only be accessed from there. Storing them in the cloud means you can access them from any device and share more easily.
Folders should be organised by searchable category or type. Short and precise file and folder names tell you at a glance what they contain.
Learners might choose to have two main folders for ‘school’ and ‘personal’ with the ‘school’ folder containing a subfolder for each of their areas of learning.
But don’t overdo it with subfolders. Simple pathways mean ease-of-access to files.
This might seem basic, but it’s a valuable lesson, worth promoting from the start, that will save time down the line.
Keeping folders tidy is also necessary. Learners should archive the files they no longer need and avoid making duplicate files.
Lastly, consistency is crucial. Decide on a convention for organising your files and folders and stick with it, so that you can find them again.
It’s far easier to keep a tidy house than have a massive clear out once a year.
In this short film for teachers Jennifer Jones talks about the importance of encouraging students to store files in an organised manner so that they can be found easily.
She likens good digital organisation to that of being organised in real life - in a tidy house everything has its place and can be found easily.
Teacher notes
Teachers should get learners to use a simple and consistent system for organising the folders where they store their work so that files are easy to find. Naming folders and files appropriately will help them identify the content quickly.
These folders can be divided into sub folders for better organisation - but learners should avoid creating too many sub-folders so that the pathways to the files are kept simple.
Access and sharing is also important and students need to think about where their files can be best accessed. Storing on a device is not always wise as work can only be accessed from that device, whereas storing in the cloud makes it accessible for more people.
Keeping storage tidy is key for good organisation and ease of use.
More from this series:
Planning, sourcing and searching. video
In this short film for teachers Rhys ap William talks about using digital tools to help students plan for a research project.
Creating. video
In this short film for teachers Jennifer Jones explains how to get students to enhance their presentations by using creative digital tools.
Evaluating and improving. video
In this short film for teachers Rhys ap William talks about the importance of evaluation and how students can improve their work if they learn to do it effectively.
