Here are some of the file storage systems I have used and some thoughts.
Google Drive and Google Backup and Sync
15GB – Free
100GB – $1.99/month
1TB – $9.99/month
(not sure if the CDN prices are accurate as I am in Japan)
This is what I currently use to backup all of my data because my school is a Google for Education school which means we get unlimited storage space. This is quite a nice perk because it means I can keep everything on my computer backed up in the cloud and not have to worry about choosing what to sync or reaching capacity. All of the school’s file sharing and storing for students and teachers is done on Google Drive.
Google Drive is my choice. I’m sure most people are familiar or use Google Drive or some other file syncing system but here are some features which you may not know about:
- With the app downloaded on your computer, Google Drive becomes a folder on your Windows Explorer or Finder which you can drag and drop files into or browse seemlessly without waiting for pages to load (as with the browser version). The folder is continuously synced so whatever is in the folder is what is in the cloud.
- Recently, Google launched Google Backup and Sync, which not only syncs your Google Drive folder but has the option to sync other folders and files on your computer. For example, you can Sync your desktop or your Photos for MacOS backup file.
- If you right-click a file in Google Drive (on the browser), you can “manage versions” which allows you to download or go back to a previous version of a file. This has saved me many times when I hit save and close on a Word doc even though I didn’t want to save the changes I made.
- You can share files and folders very easily with other people who have a gmail account.
- The mobile app also allows you to access everything. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides look fine but other files such as Microsoft Word, Excel do not always display correctly.
Dropbox
2GB – Free
1TB – $9.99/month
I use Dropbox as a sub account. It works just fine and I don’t know if it does anything more or less than Google Drive. I do know that some of my app on my phone (like 1password) can link with Dropbox and backup the contents automatically.
Flickr
1TB of photos – Free
Box.com
10GB – Free
1TB – $9.99/month
I setup an account and tried it for the first time. It works very much like Google Drive and Dropbox.
One interesting thing I found was that you are able to create a new Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint file right in the browser. I knew it was possible to create Microsoft Office documents from office.com but I found it interesting that this option was available from a third party.
I am also in a Google for Education district and rely heavily on Google Drive. I have chosen to keep the majority of my Google Drive cloud-based as I use Sugar Sync, another cloud-based application to save and share my personal day to day work. The one folder that I do share to a desktop is a Substitute Teacher Folder. I have my work computer set up so that one of the login accounts is for subs only. When they log into this account the only folder on the desktop is the Google Drive Substitute Teacher Folder. This allows me to drop lesson plans and resources into the folder from my laptop at home, saving me having to go to the school to organize things on an unexpected sick day. It’s amazing what we can do with tech 🙂
Abbi
Hi Abbi,
That’s a great idea with keeping the Sub Teacher Folder on a guest account. It can be messy sending lesson plans and resources, links, worksheets, etc. to the Sub using email or shared folders. Your suggestion makes it a one-stop place to go which makes the process much easier. Thanks for the tip, I’m going to give it a try!
Andre
I haven’t really considered this issue in the context of digital resources. I suspect I would keep a specific folder on Google Drive that I could share when needed. Then if the substitute was using a personal laptop access would still be easy.
This should make it much easier to provide materials for a truly substantial day with a TOC instead of a make-work day.
My kids are in a Google Classroom school as well and it seems to be the one web-based skill they are really developing – the ability to use Google tools and cloud-based storage effectively. In many cases it has reversed an ‘I forgot my homework at school’ weekend.