Nov
20
Written by:
Dan Maas
11/20/2008
Fileway is our web-front end for network files. Using this tool, you can login to a web page and access the file folders we provide on our network. I've posted an email from a staff member who has just set up Fileway access for elementary students...
I've spent this week training the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes on how to find the Fileway website (link on our homepage), log in, download a file, edit it, then upload it back. It's been pretty successful in class, though I haven't heard much in the way of student feedback yet. I'm going to give them the Thanksgiving break to use it, then ask for feedback after the break. I've been able to do training in about 40 minutes or so, during lab time.
One of the biggest reasons for me wanting to do Fileway for students has been the opportunity for parents to see the computer work their children are doing. To that end, I crafted a letter that was sent home to parents, which described what Fileway is, what it could be used for, and instructions on how to log on (with their child's login information included). While I hope that the students use it for their homework, I felt that the parent connection was more important, and I still feel that way.
However, one of the classes has shown me that I shouldn't discount the students. We have several split classes (2/3, 3/4, 4/5). When I ask for individual logins, I excluded the 2/3 class because there are second graders in the class. Their teacher practically begged me to let them have individual logins, so I had those set up last week. This Wednesday, I trained them on Fileway in the classroom, using the netbooks. It was the first time they became aware that they had individual logins, so I expected it to take some time.
We started up the netbooks, logged onto PODNet, and navigated to the Fileway website. We very carefully learned how to log in, and made it to the Sandburg-Students folder. Cheers filled the room. We clicked our way into their class folder, and they could see their own folders. Cheers erupted again. We uploaded a poem they had written and saved to the netbooks earlier. Cheers again. Then we logged off, because I wanted to show them the one-click link I had included on the netbooks.
We all clicked the Fileway link, which led directly to the website. More cheers. Then I carefully explained how they need to remember to type student1\ before their login information. I looked up, and half the class was already back to their folder, uploading the other work they had done. The rest were well on their way to doing the same thing.
It doesn't end there. Yesterday, they had a project they were working on that used MS Paint. The teacher wasn't sure if there was such a program on the netbooks. One of her students immediately showed the class where they could find the program. When asked how they could get their half-completed projects opened on the netbooks, the students said, "Let's use Fileway!"
That class had the easiest time with Fileway, and in thinking about it, I believe it has to do with the fact that they were trained on the netbooks. In the lab, it feels like an unnecessary extra step. The students that use the netbooks already know they don't connect to the network, so when they see a way to do just that, it really seems to click with them. And I can't discount the enthusiasm for 2nd and 3rd graders getting that big jump in responsibility by having their own logins. Since they found out they exist, they no longer want to use the sand2 class login.
-Joe Burnham, Sandburg Elementary School
Great job, Joe! This is a great example of how good learning follows you home!