Got Space?

As our classrooms have quickly evolved into being more digital, projects and assignments have also shifted from being traditional to a more online or digital platform. While Web Apps and Web 2.0 tools have supported this transition, several projects and assignments still require computer based applications and…storage. Ahhh storage. When working on projects and assignments, it is a necessity. We teachers use storage for everything from media masterpieces to lesson plans. Students use storage for projects, essays, and other files required for their courses. While my district allots storage space on a server for teachers and students (I believe), one can only access those files while on campus. And, let’s face it, while that’s all nice and great, the majority of the creating and assembling happens off campus. With increases in technology and storage capabilities, the issue has moved from the amount of storage, to having the ability to access our files whenever and wherever we need them.

Fortunately for us, we have a great deal of options to choose from aside from lugging around a notebook, netbook, or tablet computer everywhere we go.  Flash-drives, external hard drives, and cloud computing have become increasingly convenient with a variety of price-points and storage capacities. Which is the best? That question does not have an easy answer as everyone has different needs and requirements. For me though, there’s a definite winner, but it would not be sufficient to simply leave it there. That being said, I’ll share my experiences with each so you, the reader, might be able to generate a more informed opinion.

Flash drives have become quite the common storage device. They’re small, portable, usually inexpensive, and can have a functional amount of space for the price. I did a quick perusal of Bestbuy.com and found they have a huge number of options to choose from. Prices ranged from $3.99-$200+ with capacities between 2.0GB-128GB. More space usually correlated with a greater cost, but I did learn that some of the more expensive devices with less space included more advanced security features, which I imagine, are used for more personal or classified documents. Below are examples of some frequently used flash drives from my 5^th period students. Most of my students carry these for class because, like I mentioned, they do not cost a lot of money and can hold a good deal of information.  

 

For me, one of the main reasons I prefer not to use flash drives is that 1) I fill them up too quickly, thus requiring me to have more than one (like the key-chain in the picture) and 2) I lose them. In teaching for over six years, one could imagine how many files I have accumulated. I honestly cannot tell you the number of flash drives I have had (and lost) throughout my teaching career. What I DO know is at one moment I'll have three on a key ring when I get to work and only two when I leave. Luckily, the one that fell off was not the most important of the three. Regardless, something had to be better, so I decided to buy the “next best thing.”

Once completing a little product research, I decided to purchase an external hard drive. The external hard drive I purchased cost about $80 and could hold up to 320GB. Bestbuy.com has (and had back then) a great selection as well ranging in price from $50-$200+ and from 80GB to 4+TB. Like the flash drives, the greater price corresponded to either more space or additional security features. Below is an image of my external hard drive attached to my PC at school.

When I first bought the device, it worked wonderfully! I had plenty of room, could take it anywhere, attach it to any computer, and despite it costing more than a flash drive, I felt the $80 was worth it. Over time however, I experienced (and still do) quite a number problems with it. The most important being the cable does not connect well to the device. This is most likely due to the frequent insertion and removal of the cable. Originally, it clicked in and stayed to function as designed. Now, the cable rests “connected” so any movement of the external hard drive while “connected” is problematic. In addition, the security features have malfunctioned for some reason and now, are TOO effective. I sporadically cannot download or put new files on the hard drive, I can only view them, which is a problem.  

After losing flash drives then not being able to add, remove, or alter files on my external hard drive, I decided to ditch the hardware and take it to the cloud, and I could not be happier. I created an account with Dropbox.com, downloaded the app to my computers (PC and MAC) and to my iPhone. The biggest point to emphasize is Dropbox’s ease of accessibility. Wherever you have Internet or cellular service, you can use Dropbox. It is fantastic! In addition to being able to access my Dropbox from virtually anywhere, creating an account to receive 2GB of storage is free! Once created, you can earn 500MB of space per person you refer to Dropbox who creates an account up to a specified number of Gigabytes, again, for free! Below is an example of my Dropbox account on my iPhone.

The iPhone app works very well in addition to working with other apps on the phone; so again, accessing your files is simple and can be done practically anywhere. The application for the computer works similarly. Once downloaded, it acts like a normal folder on your hard drive, but syncs with the cloud as soon as a file is changed. It’s quite amazing to upload a screen capture from my phone (as I did in the image above), then see the file immediately available on my Mac, PC, iPhone, and in my Dropbox account online (assuming I had a browser open). If that is not the epitome of accessing your storage, I do not know what is!

So, there you have it. Using cloud computing for storage is my favorite. It's inexpensive (free), highly accessible, and can potentially provide you with a substantial amount of space. Additionally, you need not worry about loosing files or device mechanical/technological failure. Really, with using cloud computing for storage, what more could you ask for?

-Mark O

 

Students Plagiarize. So what do you do?

Maybe not so much in this world of Education Technology, but I feel, usually, we mathematics teachers have the stigma of being very rigid, analytical, and…well…not very creative. I believe it has mostly to do with the whole Right-brained vs. Left-brained argument. Whatever the situation, I know that I do not identify with these usual ways of thinking. (Side note: this is probably also why I prefer to teach Geometry to Algebra) I much rather prefer project-based learning to standardized testing. But my school, district, state, etc. still deem it a necessary and effective tool. Reluctantly, I comply. Despite this, I constantly strive to create and assign relevant projects (using the appropriate technology of course) that allow the student to work cooperatively, think critically, and use their creativity to demonstrate mastery on a topic. In most cases, likely all, my assignments require the student to conduct some sort of research, create something original, provide solutions, then finally, evaluate themselves and their peers. We cannot forget, after-all, to implement Bloom’s Higher Order Thinking strategies (Evaluating and Creating, specifically) to provide a meaningful challenge to the student (Heer, 2011).

So what happens when students plagiarize material for a high school project that is intended to use original, self-generated elements for the final product? Why do they do it? As suggested by Robert Harris, most high school students do not know what actual plagiarism is. I agree in that most students honestly believe that whatever is on the Internet is “fair game” and theirs to use (2012). Continuing with Harris’s thoughts, while this does not apply to ALL, many students for whatever reason (that could be another topic for another day) focus on getting it done by whatever means necessary versus properly managing time, documenting resources, and following the proper steps for giving credit to the original source (2012). In an activity I described a few posts back, I came across a group who plagiarized. After doing a quick Google search I concluded what was submitted was not authentic work.

 For me, though unsure of the best route to take,  I went for the teachable moment. I share in some of the blame, as I could have taken better preventative measures. First, while the idea and instructions were clear, I could have required a more specific, authentic deliverable to be submitted. Often times, plagiarism occurs in generic assignments, the more interesting and unique, the less likely items are or even can be plagiarized (Renard, 1999). Second, while I suggested a timeline for having resources accumulated, I did not require due dates for key elements of the project; outline, rough draft, annotated bibliography, etc. (Harris, 2012). Instead, I assumed the students were clear on how to properly use and cite resources. Lastly, and most importantly when it comes to the overall grade of the project, I neglected to delineate specific penalties for plagiarized work (Harris, 2012). To me, failing a student without them knowing the risks (even-though you would assume they know this already) seems unfair. Similar to a scoring rubric, students must know the rules of the game before playing. 

So what was the result of this? I spoke with this group (and another actually), explained to them the issue, discussed how to fix it, and talked about consequences should the issue persist with this project and in future assignments. I expect to have properly cited material from my students during the next go around. After these experiences, both parties involved. They learned that just because it appears online, does not mean it is free to use. I learned not to assume students know this in detail and must be reminded to always give credit where credit is due. I also learned that one of best ways combat plagiarism is to prevent it through better teaching practices and creating more interesting lessons, which require a more personalized product. In doing this, we increase the awareness and accountability on behalf of the student and, as the teacher, continue to grow and develop our skills to provide learning experiences that are creative, relevant and authentic.

References:

Harris, R. (2012, February 28). Anti-plagiarism for research papers. Retrieved from        

          http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm

Heer, R. (2011, June 07). A model of learning objectives. Retrieved from http://www.celt.iastate.edu

          /teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html

Renard, L. (1999). Cut and paste 101: Plagiarism and the net. Educational Leadership, 57(4), 38-42.