Some of my classes began participating last week in a bit of a technology trial run which allows them to have their own e-mail accounts though Windows Live. I agreed to work with this program, not for the e-mail, but as a means to take my students to the clouds.
I don't think anyone can argue that we are past the tipping point where so much of our interaction with computers is stored somewhere in the ether-world of the internet, and doesn't actually live on a hard drive in our homes or workplace. This enables us to access our files and folders where ever we go, sharing them with others, and working on them at will. Personally, I have been a Google docs girl for a few years and thoroughly enjoy the flexibility it affords.
I have many lesson plans, meeting notes, and collaborative projects in Google. I have had no problems with the apps there and highly recommend it to other adults. But for my students, it was a no go. The district I work for does not allow the children to use Google docs, nor many other programs within Google. In fact, they are currently filtering out Google images due to inappropriate content. I don't fault them for this, but always wished I could find some ways to get to some great apps in a safe, secure way for my classes.
The best thing my district said to make me excited about getting e-mail for my students...the use of SkyDrive! Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote in the clouds! My students can now work both at home and at school, sharing files with me and/or with others. This has meant a radical change for the kids in the way they work. They have access in my class or in other classes if they need to get into their projects. I can see the files anytime I need to check on progress. They can get help anytime, anywhere, from nearly anyone, even parents, by just sharing out the file. It's Nirvana for homework! Well, maybe not for them. It's now impossible to say they forgot it or their dog ate it. Things have definitely changed for the better.
Over the past couple of years I have tried having students bring in flash drives to use for transportation of their work. But kids are kids, and flash drives were never where they needed to be at work time. What to do?
We do use Moodle within our district and my classes have made use of up/downloading documents through it. But it tends to be multiple-step and therefore clunky, so few of them liked it.
The biggest stumbling block for taking my students to work in the cloud was that most apps require an e-mail account to register. Since I work with elementary age students, e-mail accounts were few and far between until I was offered the trial program. There is Gaggle, but rumors persisted that they are lean in service unless you use the paid subscription. I also did not feel that there would be enough support from my district if I used it, so I held off, looking for alternatives.
I have found some work-arounds that do very well, and will continue to use them. One of the best is PrimaryPad, a free app we began using when old favorite Etherpad was purchased by Google. PrimaryPad uses the open source code from Etherpad and works great. I continue to use it with my younger students because it's so very easy.
The main downside is that PrimaryPad is completely open to the internet. This is how my kids can use it for free, but is also how anyone in the world could find their project and edit within it. In comparison, SkyDrive is locked. I explain this to the students and caution them to never use their real names or any other personal information. I also make sure to tell them to contact me if it appears that someone else might have used their pad.
I'm able to keep a watch on their pads too, by simply going to the name they assign it. Like SkyDrive, PrimaryPad is a wonderful way to keep an eye on their work at any time and work with them to guide their way rather than just assigning a grade at the end. There is also a feature which allows for collaboration by up to five students at a time. All can edit at once, rather than one person doing most of the writing work. If you can't get access to Office Live in your school, PrimaryPad is a wonderful substitute.
Having the e-mail accounts for my kids will also help my students access other great apps such as Voki (avatar creator), Prezi (non-linear graphic organizer), and Delicious (bookmarking app). These are oldies but goodies to some, but will be very new and welcome for my students.
Some people see elephants, cotton candy, or flowers in the clouds. But I see the future for my students.
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