Joys of Teaching

In this post, I explore the question: What are the joys of teaching?

Teaching is something I have been doing for a long time, going all the way back to when I was a student and a tutor. Early in college, I decided that I wanted to teach at the college level. (Immediately before that I had planned on a career in engineering.) If I had to put my finger on what made me want to teach then, I think it was that, as a tutor, I had seen the joy of connecting people to mathematics, a discipline that is associated with a lot of negative experiences for many students. But, as with so many things in life, as we grow older and gain more experience, what we appreciate changes. Nonetheless, seeing students light up when they grasp an idea remains a particular joy for me.

I enjoy teaching because I enjoy the challenge. Each semester, I find myself faced with challenges: I am challenged to react to students’ misconceptions that I have not seen before, or I am challenged to get students to invest their best effort, or I am challenged to find new ways to keep students engaged in class. Every year, I reflect back on what has happened in my classes, I review the evidence of student learning, and I think over the learning experiences that students had. I always see a need to do better. I always rethink my course problem sets and grading scheme, and I look for ways to remake them in ways that will encourage students to learn more from the course.

I enjoy teaching because I enjoy connecting with students. More than just teaching content, teaching is a coaching and mentoring relationship. I have been at my school long enough that I have had a number of students at multiple points in their careers, sometimes across lower and upper division courses, or in their undergraduate major and in master’s courses or teacher professional development institutes. Sometimes, students complete a course with me and continue to come back for advice or assistance. I enjoy seeing the students grow and gain new perspectives on what they have learned, or seeing them begin to transition from thinking about the classroom from the student’s view to thinking of themselves as teachers.

I enjoy seeing the impact of a positive learning experience for students in a way that I cannot see through the other things that I do. Being in front of, in the middle of, and generally in the presence of students gives me opportunities to impact students in ways that are not visible when I am in the role of researcher, or serving the university.

This is a time of year for reflection, and for planning. I encourage my fellow instructors to take a moment to enjoy the fact that teaching is an awesome responsibility, and a great privilege. Enjoy teaching in spite of, and perhaps because of, the challenges! 

Feel free to share your favorite joys of teaching in the comments. 

Building an Effective In-class Learning Environment, Part 3: Balancing Group Work And Student Presentations

In this series, I explore the questions: What are some advantages and disadvantages of group work and student presentations? How can students be held accountable for learning in groups and from student presenters? What defines a good balance of group time with whole class presentations? In Part 1, I focused exclusively on group work.

In Part 2, I focused mainly on student presentations. Finally, in Part 3, I discuss considerations involved in balancing time allocated to each of these modes of classroom organization, and balancing the strengths and weaknesses of the two modes against each other. 

Striking a balance between group work and student presentations:

In Part 1, we learned that group work is an effective way to organize classroom learning, but that there are sometimes issues that need to be resolved or discussed by the entire class, or problems that many groups are unable to resolve on their own. In Part 2, we learned that student presentations are good for putting the focus of the class on a particular solution, but that there is the potential for students’ preparation for class and participation in discussion to suffer. Therefore, I find that using both groups and individual presentations helps to keep students engaged in class, and that a good mixture will encourage students to prepare for class on their own time.

Given the challenges and opportunities associated with group work and student presentations, what mix of these two forms of classroom organization is best?

For me, there is no one right answer. Even for a particular semester with a particular section of a class, I am sure that different blends of class organization would be valuable. Still, I have found that I tend to favor more groups or more presentations in different sorts of classes. I use two basic models in my classes. In what follows, I will describe the models and why I feel that each one is valuable in the particular courses where I use it.

Group-centered model:

In this model, roughly 60-70% of each class period is spent in groups. Usually, I have classes that meet twice each week. Typically, on one of these two days, class begins with me introducing the topic of the day, in some courses explaining the manipulatives we will be using, or the calculator functions that they may need to do the day’s mathematics, and then sending the groups to work on problems. I may tell the groups to give a report when they have a solution to a particular problem. As groups work, I monitor their progress, check to ensure that everyone is participating in the work of the group, and ask questions as needed to help groups make progress in their thinking. If a group is ready to report, then I ensure that all group members contribute to the report, and if they answer all my questions satisfactorily, then I approve the report; otherwise, they are told to work more and call me back when they are ready. If I did not request group reports, then I am usually making note of which groups have done work that I think should be discussed in front of the class, and which problems are sticking points for groups. If all groups become stuck, then we transition to a student presentation or a whole-class discussion of how to proceed. Otherwise, groups continue to work until I feel that most of the class is ready to discuss the key ideas and the work that I have identified for presentation. Presentations then serve as a way to codify the important concepts, as a way to compare different solution ideas, and for groups to ask questions regarding issues they had while working. Everyone is sent home to work on problems, and to come back ready to discuss solutions.

When students return for the next class, they begin in groups right away. Sometimes, I will announce a jigsaw, so that particular groups are assigned to focus on solutions to a single problem and prepare the explanation they will give later. Other times, I make sure that everyone has a colored pen, and I quickly identify which problems will be presented and who will present them, so that we move into student presentations rather quickly. Because students are using colored pens, I can tell what they have done on their own time, and yet taking good notes on the presentations can boost their homework score. It may happen that after a particular presentation, students have the tools they need to solve other problems on which they were stuck, in which case they get time to work in groups again. Or, I may have follow-up problems that build on what was presented, and again the groups are charged to apply what they have learned from the presentations. Depending on time, we may begin a new cycle of looking at a new topic while working in groups.

I have used and refined this model since I first had my own classes. I find that this is a good model for lower-division mathematics, including courses like Mathematics for Elementary Teachers, where a number of the problems involve computations and generally involve more familiar or concrete concepts. The problems lend themselves to groups being steadily engaged. It is more difficult to use this model when the problems are longer and more abstract. One reason for this is that the average time to solve a problem is longer. This makes it more difficult to launch into a topic during class time and have sufficient progress made by all groups within 30 minutes or so. Therefore, in classes like Transition to Proof, Abstract Algebra, or Modern Geometry, I use a different model.

Presentation-centered model:

In the presentation-centered model, roughly 70-80% of the time is spent on student presentations (this includes the think-pair-share time in which partners are discussing presentations). Class begins in one of three ways. Either, a) students are encouraged to discuss their solutions while I ensure that everyone has a colored pen and I sign up the presenters for the day; b) the class begins with a set of prompts, in which I put up a short set of questions, often true/false or multiple choice, and students are asked to think-vote-discuss-revote, similar to Interactive Engagement in physics and elsewhere; or, c) I announce a jigsaw, and partners are assigned to one of two problems that they will shortly have to explain to another person. At the conclusion of any of these events, we launch into student presentations. Each presentation is discussed in detail, until the class is satisfied with the mathematics, and I am satisfied that the class has identified the important ideas. Occasionally, in between presentations, partners may be asked to look at a related problem that either applies the ideas from the most recent presentation, or anticipates the ideas that may come up in the next presentation. After the conclusion of all the day’s presentations, usually four to six of them, then I may point students to the next topic or assignment, and partners will often be asked to do some preliminary work with definitions or examples that may help them.

When I first began teaching proof-oriented courses, I used presentations and accompanied them with think-pair-share, as I do now, but I did not use the jigsaw and prompts. I find that beginning the class with the partner work gets the class into a discussion-oriented mindset, which helps to make the presentation discussions more lively. Using the prompts makes for a nice formative assessment where I learn where the whole class stands with key concepts, and I can see and react immediately to what the class thinks. I also find that students are very highly engaged during jigsaws, so that I often structure the problem sets so that there are two closely related, more accessible problems that lend themselves to a jigsaw. But because a jigsaw depends on a large portion of the students being able to solve the assigned problems, not everything can be handled this way.

Final comments:

Stepping outside of my own classroom, I know that different instructors have preferences for whole class or small group mode. Each mode demands slightly different skills from the instructor. In small groups, the instructor has to travel from group to group, listening and occasionally contributing questions, and making mental or written notes about the discussions for later summative activities (whole-class presentations or sharing, or instructor summary). The noise and activity level tend to be high. With whole class presentations, the challenge is to ensure that all students are engaging with the content of the presentation, and to do as much as possible to have broad participation. Ultimately, the goal is to have as many students as possible engaged in creating mathematics and making sense of the core ideas of the course for themselves, so that students develop the mathematical thinking skills that will serve them long after the course is over. One of the benefits of inquiry-based learning and the active modes of instruction described here is that there are many opportunities to gain evidence of students’ thinking—to conduct formative assessment, so that adjustments to instruction can be made before an exam reveals critical gaps or misconceptions among the students. And, as the recent Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper indicates, evidence favors active learning in STEM courses over lecture. So, whether an instructor prefers groups or presentations, if students are engaged, chances are good that they are learning. 

Readers, what classroom organization works for you? 

Building an Effective In-Class Learning Environment, Part 2: Student Presentations

In this series, I explore the questions: What are some advantages and disadvantages of group work and student presentations? How can students be held accountable for learning in groups and from student presenters? What defines a good balance of group time with whole class presentations? In Part 1, I focused exclusively on group work.

In Part 2, I focus mainly on student presentations. Finally, in Part 3, I will discuss considerations involved in balancing time allocated to each of these modes of classroom organization, and balancing the strengths and weaknesses of the two modes against each other.

 

Advantages and disadvantages of student presentations to the class:

Student presentations are a way to bring important ideas to the entire class. Presentations focus the entire class on one piece of work. This enables the instructor to monitor the mathematics more easily in comparison to students solving problems in small groups, and to bring up questions to ensure the entire class has the opportunity to grapple with and resolve the key issues in a problem. Student presentations are a good opportunity for the instructor and the class to get an understanding of the presenter’s thinking about a problem. This is especially helpful when a problem has stumped most of the class, so that everyone has a chance to see an idea or tactic that resolves a roadblock. Additionally, individual presentations give the instructor an opportunity to praise a student for sharing his/her thinking about a problem and its solution. Student presentations also enable individual ownership of the mathematics, as the class may later refer back to “Carmen’s solution,” or “Manuel’s way,” etc.

A major disadvantage of student presentations is that fewer students will participate in a discussion of the solution or proof. This happens not only because the group is larger, but also because many times the audience is afraid to trip up the presenter with a question. Moreover, students are sometimes embarrassed about bringing up their questions in front of the class. Another difficulty is that in a class of more than 20, students sometimes do not work enough outside of class on the problems because of the low probability that they will need to present them. 

Individual accountability during student presentations:

To combat the tendency for fewer students to participate in a discussion of a student presentation, there are a few strategies that can be used.

1. Call on students in the audience randomly. To ensure equitable participation, call on students randomly. This combats the common problem of having just a handful of students who are willing to comment or ask questions. Students can be asked to paraphrase particular parts of a solution, to identify key pieces of the solution, to identify the type of argument used, or to summarize an entire solution. While it may not increase the number of contributions, calling at random does help to ensure that over the course of a week or so, most students will have a chance to participate in the discussion.
2. Use think-pair-share. One way to generate more discussion is to have students first review the solution/proof on their own, and then pair up to discuss the work of a presenter. Students can be tasked to come up with a question about the presenter’s work, or to provide further explanation for a part of the solution. The instructor then randomly selects some individuals to report on what they discussed with the partner. It is also worth noting that students often have an easier time answering the question, “What did you discuss?” rather than, “What do you think of this solution?” or, “What question do you have?"
3. Let the presenter sit before discussion begins. There can be advantages to letting the presenter moderate the discussion, but if students are shy about putting the presenter on the spot, it may be helpful to let the presenter sit. This does not absolve the presenter from having to answer questions about his or her process in producing a solution, but it often reduces anxiety if the presenter is not standing uncomfortably at the front of the room.
4. Emphasize the importance of discussing ideas, not people. Whether or not the presenter remains in front of the class during discussion of his or her work, it can be helpful to remind the class that suggestions and questions are not personal attacks against the presenter. Instead, emphasize that everyone is learning, and that the presenter would like the feedback now, rather than to find out later that he or she has been making a consistent error. Moreover, if the class finds flaws or makes corrections, the flaws are in the solution, not in the presenter.

To reduce the tendency of students to spend too little effort outside of class, here are some ideas.

1. Although this was also mentioned in the post on group work, check homework at the beginning of class to ensure that individuals already have a record of their own attempts and solutions before discussing their ideas with others. This lets students know that they are being graded for making their own attempts on assigned work outside of class. 
2. Again repeating a suggestion, use colored pens in class. This strategy gives the instructor the power to discern what students are completing on their own time as well as what they are doing in class. As an added benefit over the early homework check, the instructor can encourage students to keep good records in class by commenting on the notes when the assignment is collected, and by giving full credit to assignments that show that all problems were attempted individually AND show corrections and notes that reflect work done in class.
3. Do not accept volunteers for presentations. Typically, at the beginning of a course, it is helpful to let students volunteer. However, shortly thereafter, perhaps by the second week, it is often wise to keep a list of students that have yet to present (and later, the students with the fewest presentations), and to call on those students first. While students will often have significant breaks between presentations, calling on students with the fewest presentations ensures that students know that they are all expected to contribute. 

While all of these strategies reduce the tendency of students to disengage from presentations, I find that in practice, a mix of group work and presentations works best. In the final post in this series, I will examine considerations involved in using a combination of group work and individual presentations.

Readers, do you have other ideas about how to get the most from students before and during student presentations?

Building an Effective In-Class Learning Environment, Part 1: Group Work

In this series, I explore the questions: What are some advantages and disadvantages of group work and student presentations? How can students be held accountable for learning in groups and from student presenters? What defines a good balance of group time with whole class presentations? In Part 1, I will focus exclusively on group work.

In Part 2, I will focus on student presentations. Finally, in Part 3, I will discuss considerations involved in balancing time allocated to each of these modes of classroom organization, and balancing the strengths and weaknesses of the two modes against each other.

Advantages and disadvantages of group work:

Groups are an effective way to organize student learning, as described in numerous research articles, such as the meta-analysis by Springer, Stanne, and Donovan. Groups tend to be most effective when they are smaller, meaning pairs, or groups of three or four people.

Groups (or pairs) have the advantage of fostering more conversations in a classroom. There are a lot more people speaking at any given time, and there is a lot more back-and-forth exchange of ideas in groups. Generally, more students have the chance to explain their thinking, and they can get more clarification in a small group. Groups also foster more camaraderie and community in a classroom. This is particularly true if group membership is changed regularly, even daily, so that students have the opportunity to work with many different students in the class.

There are a couple of disadvantages of small group work. One difficulty is that the instructor has many groups to monitor. Groups sometimes do not solve the problems or fully complete the proofs. If there are several different errors or gaps in understanding across groups, it can be difficult to resolve the gaps or errors that arise. Another challenge is that sometimes, if students know that they will be able to work in groups, they may not put in sufficient effort outside of class. Instead, they hope that their partner(s) will have solutions to their problems. 

Individual accountability in groups:

Thus, it is prudent for an instructor to plan for ways to hold individuals accountable for producing work and for understanding the work of the group. What follows are a few ways to promote individual accountability in a class. Note that some of these are more about encouraging students to work outside of class, while others are about ensuring that everyone in the group understands the work produced.

1. Check homework at the beginning of class to ensure that individuals already have a record of their own attempts and solutions before discussing their ideas with others. This lets students know that they are being graded for making their own attempts on assigned work outside of class. 
2. Collect homework at the beginning of class. This works similarly to checking homework, but in order to collect homework, it is important that the work in class does not depend on the homework being collected. I have found that students prefer to have their work handy in class, so that they can compare their own thinking to what is shared in class. This is true even if the homework problems are separate from the class work, as ideas gained in class can sometimes cause students to rethink their homework.
3. Use colored pens in class. This strategy does not apply only to groups, but again, it gives the instructor the power to discern what students are completing on their own time as well as what they are doing in class. As an added benefit over the early homework check, the instructor can encourage students to keep good records in class by commenting on the notes when the assignment is collected, and by giving full credit to assignments that show that all problems were attempted individually AND show corrections that reflect work done in class. 
4. A jigsaw (described previously) is effective in holding individuals accountable. I find that students often work quite hard to ensure that they understand the work of others in their group, because they know they will have to explain that work almost immediately afterwards. 
5. Call on individuals at random to report on the conversation or work completed by the group. Since there are typically many groups in a class, calling on groups at random is one way to encourage the groups to stay on task, and to let the instructor get an understanding of the thinking of several students, even when the instructor may not have been able to visit with that group while they were working.
6. Request group reports. An instructor can hold all group members accountable by asking that every group report its solution to a designated problem to the instructor separately (i.e., not in front of the class). The instructor then queries all members of the group about the solution. For instance, if the class is working on problems 7-12, then all groups may be asked to check in with the instructor when they are satisfied with their solution to problem 8. As the instructor wanders through the room, groups signal when they are ready to share their solution. The instructor then asks a particular group member to begin explaining the solution, stops the explanation to ask others to clarify particular points, or asks others to take over the explanation at that point. In this way, the group must ensure that all members understand the work. If a group member is stumped by an instructor question or gets stuck in an explanation, the instructor tells the group to discuss the work some more and call the instructor back when everyone is ready. 

With appropriate tools in place, groups can be very productive and make for a very lively classroom learning environment. Readers, what other strategies do you use to ensure that groups are effective? 

Working in the Cloud, Part 3: Evernote

In this third part of the series, I am going to describe how I use Evernote. In earlier posts, I described my use of Dropbox and Google Drive.

Like Google Drive, Evernote has many features beyond data storage. As in my previous two posts, I will describe how I use it, rather than attempt to be comprehensive. 

First and foremost, Evernote is great for typing up notes of all sorts. At this point, I often find that I start drafting up my ideas for lots of things in Evernote. Even if it is eventually going to be an email or a presentation or a blog post, I will usually start with Evernote. I am often taking notes in meetings, or while on the phone. No longer do I have these notes on various papers that I either have to carry around or that I forget at the office when I am somewhere else. I also make notes for my classes, and keep those in a note. Then I pull up the note on any device, and I am ready for class. I use Evernote to save receipts too, particularly if I need to file for reimbursement later. 

Editing notes is the centerpiece of Evernote, so it can be done on any device. Moreover, the interface looks very similar on tablets, laptops, and the desktop, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time finding the features I use on one device when I move to a different one.

Notes are accessible in a few different ways. I can add tags to my notes, and later pull up notes with a particular tag or set of tags. Notes can also be sorted into different notebooks, which are the equivalent of file folders in other storage systems. Notes that have reminders will be listed under reminders. For a note that I return to frequently, I add it to a list of shortcuts. Finally, notes are sorted by date of creation, with the most recent notes at the top within easy reach. This makes organization, and therefore finding the note I want to work on, pretty easy.

One of my favorite ways to use Evernote is in conjunction with its native reminder feature. For instance, if I need to photocopy something at the office, I might type a quick note to myself in Evernote and set up a reminder. The reminder can have a due date or not. If it does have a due date, Evernote sends an email to you on that day as well. 

Have you ever had the experience of having an email you can’t get to right now but want to answer later? This is where Evernote works really well. Evernote accounts come with an email address. Suppose I have an email from Maria that I want to get to later. I will forward Maria's email to my Evernote address. When it arrives, I add a reminder to the email-now-note, and then I do not forget to respond (reminders can also be added by altering the subject line of the email when I forward it). There are also times when I receive an email request that I can respond to, but also requires additional action later. When I respond, I blind-copy my Evernote address, so that I see the email and it reminds me to follow up on it.

In fact, Evernote interacts well with email in other ways. You can type a quick note as an email, and send it to Evernote. You can even set it up so that the email appends to an existing note, gets filed in a particular notebook, is tagged the way you want it, and it can have a reminder added as well.

Another way that I have come to use Evernote is to save items from the web, in a few different ways. Evernote has a web clipper for your task bar that lets you quickly take a screenshot (entire screen or a selected portion) and save it to Evernote. This works well if there is a graph or some data in a table that I want to save. If I am reading a blog post, often through Feedly or Instapaper, and I decide I want to keep the article, then I save it to Evernote. Then I tag it, and in this way I build a collection of ideas to share with colleagues, with students, with teachers, etc.

I also share my notes in one of two ways. Either I email the entire note, or I get a URL for the note, and share that instead. An advantage of using the URL is that I can post it somewhere, like a Lino or Padlet board, or some other public web space, and anyone can follow the link to see the note. Another advantage is that by following the URL, anyone accessing the note will see the most updated version.

Evernote’s storage limit works differently than Dropbox or Google Drive. Rather than a fixed limit, Evernote allows its users to add up to 60 MB (for the free account) per month. So I don’t worry that I have to go back through old notes to delete them; rather, I just have to be careful of how much I add each month (and I have never hit my limit).

Now we come to limitations. Evernote is great for notes. I also add PDF files, scans of documents, and occasional photos to Evernote. But I do not save other sorts of files, like spreadsheets or LaTeX files. I could save a LaTeX file into Evernote, but I am not sure that I could go through my usual cycle of editing, compiling, editing more, etc. Files other than notes are saved by "clipping" them to a note. Evernote doesn't seem made for the purpose of keeping files that are updated a lot. In this sense, Evernote probably could not be my only cloud service.

Syncing with Evernote is reliable, but not constant. Whereas every change is sent to Google Drive every few seconds as I work, and Dropbox is always working in the background to sync my files once saved, Evernote syncs either when prompted, or at other intervals. This has only come up when I make a last-minute addition to a note for my class in Evernote on my desktop, and then proceed to class with Evernote on a different device. If I don’t hit the sync button on Evernote, it may be a while before it syncs, and therefore I am without the latest version of my notes for class.

Basic (read: free) Evernote accounts require internet access in order to access my notes. This makes it the same as Google Drive. However, because Evernote is not syncing my notes every few seconds, if I am on a slow connection, I am not as likely to lose access to my note. However, I will lose the ability to open other notes if I am without internet. Evernote Premium users can access notes offline by designating particular notebooks that will be stored locally on the device.

Evernote Summary:

Advantages:

+Notes can be created and edited on any device.

+Notes can be organized in multiple ways, including notebooks, tags, reminders, and shortcuts.

+Notes can be added via email.

+Notes can have reminders, with or without dates.

+Notes can be created by saving items from the web.

+Evernote has an upload limit per month, rather than a fixed storage limit.

Disadvantages:

-Evernote is not designed for editing spreadsheets or PDFs or other files besides notes.

-Sync immediately before moving to another device to guarantee notes are up-to-date.

-For Basic users, accessing notes requires an internet connection.

There are certainly a lot more ways to use Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote than I have covered here. Still, I hope this has given readers at least an idea of some of the different ways of taking advantage of these three services.  

Working in the Cloud, Part 2: Google Drive

In my last post, I covered my usage of Dropbox. In this post, I am going to pick up with my usage of Google Drive.

When I only had home and office desktops and a laptop, I was satisfied with Dropbox alone. Two years ago, I got an iPad, and began to explore more apps, including Evernote and Google Drive. Given that I was already a Dropbox user, I have added the other services to fulfill particular needs. If I had come to the others first, my usage of them would probably be different. In this post, I will discuss Google Drive.

Whereas Dropbox is really about file storage, Google Drive is a more expansive system. You can use Google Drive to store files of all types. However, files in Google Drive work especially well with Google’s Documents, Sheets, Forms, Presentations, and Drawings. For me, Google Drive serves to enable collaboration in ways that are difficult with Dropbox. In particular, if I have a document that I am going to co-author, and I want my co-author to be able to view the document with me simultaneously, then I will use Google docs. I also like the feature that allows me to select what people can do with an item I share, where the options are: can view/can comment/can edit. So when I am running a workshop, for instance, my co-facilitators may have editing capability, while participants get viewing capability. And, unlike Dropbox, only files that originate with me count against my file storage limit.

My favorite feature of Google Drive is Google Forms. Google Forms are great for surveys or quizzes. There are several different question formats that you can set up for a question, including multiple choice and short answer. The responses to the form are collected in a Google Sheet. And, with the use of Flubaroo, an add-on to Sheets, I can auto-score a quiz as well, and have the scores emailed to the students.

There are a couple of nice aspects of storage in Google Drive. One is that Google’s native formats (Documents, Sheets, Forms, Presentations, and Drawings) do not count against your storage limit. Another is that items scanned in to Drive get Optical Character Recognition (OCR) applied to them, so that if, for instance, I scan a hard copy of a typed document, I am saved from re-typing it, because OCR converts the scanned content into text.

Google Drive has its own set of limitations. One of the limitations across Google’s native Docs and Forms is that it is difficult to typeset mathematics. (I have a partial work-around, but I’ll save that for another day.) Another issue is that Documents and Sheets are editable on the iPad, but at last check, Drawings and Forms are not. Also, where Dropbox files are stored locally on a laptop or desktop, so that you can work offline, and particular files can be selected for local storage on your tablet, Google Drive files are not generally available offline. I have had the experience of trying to access a file when I have a slow internet connection, and I am stuck unable to access it. (If you use Chrome or Chrome OS, you can set up offline access: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375012?hl=en.)

Google Drive Summary:

Advantages:

+Native editor for proprietary file types.

+Native Document and Sheet editors work on the iPad.

+Forms are great for surveys and quizzes. 

+Form results go in a spreadsheet that can be auto-scored with Flubaroo.

+Files in native Google formats do not count against the storage limit.

+Only my own files count against my storage limit, and not those files shared with me but owned by others.

+OCR lets me convert hard copies into electronic text.

Disadvantages:

-Mathematics is difficult to typeset in Google’s native formats.

-Google Forms, Presentations, and Drawings cannot be edited on an iPad.

-Google files are not available offline except via Chrome or Chrome OS.

Working in the Cloud, Part 1: Dropbox

I use multiple cloud services, primarily Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote. This has been my setup for the past year or so, whereas before that, I used Dropbox exclusively. In this series of posts, I’d like to explore what I like and dislike about each service, and how I have divided my work amongst them. Please note that I am not attempting to be comprehensive, but rather to capture what I have found helps or hinders my own workflow.

Part 1: Dropbox

I discovered Dropbox a few years ago. Before that, I transported important files between work and home using a flash drive. However, I occasionally forgot the drive at home and had to improvise, either by having someone at home email me a file, or by re-creating work, or simply not working on a project that day at the office. Dropbox solves this problem by letting me access files from anywhere. Dropbox is, in part, a special file folder on my computer. If I designate a computer to have Dropbox installed, then all of the files that are in my Dropbox folder will be uploaded and synced to Dropbox, so that the files automatically update between, for instance, my desktop computer at home and my desktop at work. I can also access the files on my iPad, iPod, Samsung tablet, etc. On tablets and phones, Dropbox does not store most of the files on the hard drive by default; instead, it downloads whichever one I want to open when I want it. However, I am also able to designate favorites, which means Dropbox stores a copy locally on the tablet/phone drive. In this way, Dropbox has worked well. 

In addition, there are a few ways to collaborate and share files with others. I can share a link to a file or folder, or I can create a shared folder. A link to a file allows someone else with the file link to view and download the file. A shared folder lets me share an entire folder with another person, with shared editing rights. I have used these options often when I am running a workshop, and I want participants to have access to multiple files that will be used during the workshop. 

One difficulty with shared folders is that edits made by one person affect everyone. This is especially noticeable when one person drags a file from the Dropbox folder to another location on their hard drive. The person is effectively deleting the file from the Dropbox shared folder, and as a result, deleting the copy of it from everyone else’s shared folder as well. I have learned that shared folders are difficult to manage for this reason.

Another limitation of Dropbox is that it is not designed for simultaneous editing on multiple devices. If I leave a file open on one computer, and then I edit it on another device, I will get two copies of the file as a result. Edits are not integrated into an open copy on another machine.

Also note that as with all cloud storage systems, there is a storage limit. If you have a shared folder, the entire folder counts against your limit. Thus, last year, when someone wanted to share a very large folder with me, by choosing to share in that folder, I overran my free space. So I either had to un-join the shared folder, or begin a paid Dropbox plan (I chose the latter).

Another limitation for Dropbox is that there is no native editor. This is not a major limitation, but it can be a nuisance to have to open files with particular apps, especially on a tablet. This can lead to formatting errors when files edited in one app on the desktop are edited with a different app on the tablet.

Dropbox Use Summary:

Advantages:

+Files are stored locally on the hard drives of my desktops and laptop.

+Files can be designated for local storage on tablets and phones.

+Files can be shared for download by others.

+Shared work folders enable collaboration and shared editing.

Disadvantages:

-Files removed from shared folders are removed from all devices.

-A single file cannot be edited by multiple users simultaneously. The file will be split into copies.

-Shared folders count against the storage limit of all participants.

-There is no native ability to edit files of any sort.

Next time, I will describe how I use Google Drive.