Kids these days are more connected than ever to computers and the Internet at large. Grades and assignments can be accessed online and children are increasingly doing their homework at home on their computer.
But how do they get those assignments to school? Printing out homework is becoming more passé these days, especially in the eco-friendly world we live in. Instead, kids are carting their homework back and forth via portable storage devices.
At the top of the list are custom USB flash drives, which offer students and teachers the ideal way to share and keep track of every class assignment.
The reason for their popularity is the fact that custom USB flash drives are so easy to use, even for kids. All they have to do is insert the drive into a USB port and drag their assignments back and forth. The teacher can do the same, collecting USB drives instead of paper.
A drive can also help your child get organized. For example, you can help them create folders on the drive for each class they have. That way all the related assignments and homework for that class can be easily and quickly accessed.
Because custom USB flash drives are platform stupid, it doesn’t matter if you have a PC at home and the school has Macs. The drives work flawlessly on both systems. The only difference is that you may have some file naming issues if you have an older PC and if you have a Mac you’ll want to make sure the file’s root extension is added (i.e., .doc, .xls, etc.).
For kids a flash drive is a terrific tool. It’s small and portable so it’s easy to tuck into a backpack. And because it’s virtually indestructible, it’ll be tough for your child to use those age-old excuses for why they didn’t turn in their homework. “The dog ate it” is a tough sell, since there’s a good chance the drive will continue to work even if Rover did munch on it for a bit.
A lot of schools are actually requiring students to have a flash drive and have it listed on the class supply list.
If your own school hasn’t thought about it yet, it may be a good idea to convince them to have custom USB flash drives. It’s easy for a company specializing in these drives to create a custom look that includes the school’s logo and colors. These can be a nice revenue source for a school store, PTSA or student body. You could even create ones that are color coded so students can have one for their science and math courses and another one for their art projects.
With the way technology is going, it may not be too long before electronic versions of textbooks find their way onto these drives. For kids who cart around 20 pounds of textbooks around in their backpacks each day, this should be a welcome development, not only for their education, but their posture as well.