Dear LM_NETTERS:
Thanks so much to all of you for your responses regarding the use of
jumpdrives (USB portable storage devices). The information you provided
was very helpful! Below are the messages I received, in case another of
you is looking for solutions to file storage/transport/access problems.
I must say, I was somewhat surprised that our IT person was called by a
vendor who must subscribe to the list and read my posting. They
wondered what I was doing. I don't believe they responded with any
helpful information, though...
Here we go:=20
1-We sell Dell "Memory Keys" at cost to staff and students / $28.
They're very popular; it seems like nearly everyone has one. We lease
our Dell PC's and I think the Techies got a deal on the "Keys." Haven't
had any problems with their use or abuse (yet).
The kids print both at home and at school. The memory keys are
optional. We sell them out of the Media Center. The Techies give us a
couple of dozen at a time to have on hand. This is a pretty well-off
community, so the cost isn't really a barrier. I would imagine it might
be an issue in most other schools, however. That's why it would be nice
if you could afford to issue one to each student. Maybe have them turn
them in upon graduation or something like that. I think they retail for
about $60 but you should see if that's correct, and if you can't get a
deal somehow. See if there's a company or business that would donate the
cost of them to the school in return for some publicity...just a
thought.
Reggie Buresh
__
2-We purchased USB drives for any of the faculty who wanted them. They
have been a great success, enabling faculty to take their work home or
to any computer. We have not purchased them for students but we do have
students who use them. New York Times reported a new very small drive
the size of quarter, they warned that it was so small that it was easy
to loose.
Dr. Raymond W. Barber
--
3-I can't speak as far as a schoolwide decision, but I can say that my
10th grader uses his all the time to take work back and forth from
school. I think they are one of the best things invented, and these days
they are so cheap it's amazing! It's a great idea to have them available
for students, and not that much different from the days when we would
give the kids floppies to take home.=20
Cathy Rettberg=20
--
4-Well, the obvious drawback I'd bring up is size. I am encouraging
students at my high school to buy their own but they are so small I
would be worried about them being lost, stolen or broken. If you are
holding them accountable for any lost drives...they're not cheap. I'd
love to be able to hand them out here but I think they're going to
disappear as fast as you can hand them out.
Jim Lyon
--
5-My 6th grade son uses one and this is the first year that he has not
had a problem with not being able to access his work both at home and at
school. The only "problem" that we had is that last week he ... put [his
pants] in the washer, forgetting that the jump drive was in his pocket.
We found it in the bottom of the washing machine when we were
transferring the load to the dryer.... BUT it still worked.=20
I would expect that you will have some theft/loss problems, but
none that cannot be solved.
Yvonne Weinstein=20
--
6-Our 9-12 high school of 1200 students is a laptop environment where
every student is issued a laptop computer and has a server storage file
within the network. Our students often purchase their own jump drives
and use them for schoolwork as well as mischief. It is a convenient way
to save files to be used at home in the evenings on their desktop units.
Students are not allowed to play or download games, movies or music
files so often the jump drive is loaded with games and music files from
their home computers. The students then run their games, etc off the
jump drive to avoid being caught by the network security software. It is
still a clear violation of the AUP but much harder to detect.=20
So, the jump drives are a good idea to solve the storage problem on the
server however it may open a new can of worms. Although many students
will use their jump drive appropriately someone will always be ready
with a new and creative non-educational use for their storage space.
Alda Moore=20
--
7-Lodi Unified has Mac Manager on the network. Students log in with
name and ID number and store documents into their name folder on the
File Server. If they want to work on the document at home on a PC, they
check out a floppy drive from us, save the document with the .doc
extension onto a disk, and then it is readable on a PC. The system is
working well and is probably more cost effective than other ideas.
Gayle Evans=20
--
8-Our media specialists use Lexar 256 MB jumpdrives for one of their
backups-this allows them a backup that can easily be transported outside
of the building. They are extremely handy and easy to use. Two things
to consider when purchasing:
1-The particular model we purchased is too broad to fit in the front USB
on our machines; they can only be used in the rear (awkward for some
locations)
2-Of the 30 we purchased, three either broke easily (bumped/dropped) or
did not work from the beginning. If these jumpdrives are that
sensitive, they might be damaged frequently in the hands of students.=20
Georgianna Kiggins
--
9-I oversee a site server [Apple G4 w/Server OS 10.2] that allows
storage to individual account files. The server has three HD's, each of
60GB capacity. The server administration manager allows me to specify
the maximum file size for each user, which I set at 100MB [0.1GB] for
each student. At maximum, this would use 130GB [1300 students] of the
180GB capacity, something I have never reached. Once students graduate
or transfer, their files are deleted, making room for the incoming
freshman class or new individual students. I would expect that you would
have the ability to set up maximum file allocation size for your student
users (and others). If your servers are not local, the SysOp should be
able to configure the account settings to do the same thing remotely.
Schools within my district do this with Windows Server 2000 remote
client setups.
If students have files that they need to save off of the server,
the individual computers are set up to allow students access to the CD
burner software. This allows the student to use a CD-R or CD-RW [about
800MB capacity] to save the work. If students reach their maximum
allocation on the server, they have to delete or move file to the CD
before they can save more files to the server. For some of the older
computers without a CD-R or CD-RW drive, I have a couple of external
USB:CD-RW drive available for loan. I also have a couple of USB:Zip
250MB drives available for loan should the student prefer that format.
Some of our students have been using the USB: "Keychain" storage
drive [64MB and 128MB are the most common sizes used], as they can use
the attached clip ring as a key-chain or charm holder. The small size of
these devices is an asset to the students, who generally find them
easier to carry than a CD.
Right now, laptop use is limited to two areas: Science labs and
English classrooms. The laptops work well in the science labs, as in our
science rooms the lab area is separate from the lecture area, and the
small size of the laptops works well at the lab stations. The science
laptops interface with data boxes and probes to allow data collection
and analysis using the computers. My school has one 'rolling-cart' with
36 laptops that can be connected to all recharge when placed in the
individual slots and connected to the cart power plugs. The cart is
checked out from the Library Media Center to the teacher, who is
responsible for making sure everything is put back when the cart is
returned at the end of the day. The cart cannot be kept overnight in the
classroom, for security reasons. When the cart is returned, I will give
it a quick check and set the laptops up to recharge overnight. In
general, the students take good care of the laptops. I have only had to
send a couple of the laptops in for repair to the Tech Services facility
in my district. The laptops were fixed and returned within a few days.
It appears that you are at a private school, so you may have to make
arrangements with a local computer shop for this kind of repair service.
I have been able to negotiate modest discounts at local computer stores
for assorted items that like to support local schools. You may also have
parent resources you can turn to for assistance.
David Fraga =20
--
10-If you are using Windows XP or Mac they work fine. In XP you have to
double click an icon in the systray to power them down before you remove
them to keep them from being damaged (I don't know how that works on a
Mac). We had a few minor problems with drive letters in XP and had to
manually configure the letters. In Windows 98 you will have to install
a driver in order to use them. You might also think about getting a USB
extension cable or a hub that sits on top of the computer to connect the
drives (unless your computers have USB ports on the front). You really
don't want kids reaching around behind the computers or moving the CPUs
to insert and remove the drives. =20
Tony Doyle
___
11-I have several of these jump drives and I'm going to buy another one
today (it's on sale for less than 1/2 the usual price)! One of mine
(metal
construction) dropped on the floor and became unusable. I would
recommend for school use the Lexar Sport jump drive because it has a
rubber "case" which protects it when not in the computer USB port. Also,
if you're going to these for all computers, get a USB hub, so that it's
easy to plug the jump drive into the hub and not have the kids reaching
around the back of the computer.
Joyce Conklin
--
12-This same topic came up yesterday on our Australian list - the two
key concerns were security and virus transmission between home and
school. Haven't seen any answers yet so await your hit with interest.
Barbara
--
13-I worked as a part-time librarian this past school year for a small
private college--Menlo College--with about 650 students. The library
has only 12 desktop computers for student use (but laptops can be
checked out). We noticed kids started wanting to bring in their
USB"memory stiks" and plug them in to our computers. Our main concern
was that many didn't know where to plug them in, and that the process of
doing so was difficult, involving reaching behind the hard drive, etc.,
so we arranged to have a special cord plugged in but coming out over the
top of the hard drive just for that purpose. We taped the cord to the
top of the hard drive with a little note as to what is was for. This
worked well--we didn't need to keep helping or instructing students in
the how's and why's of safely interacting with our computers. Access
became easy and worry free. Students provide their own stiks, we just
provided the plug.
Hope this helps a little.
Sara Gilman
--
14-We are considering these drives for our laptop lab. District tech
coordinator suggested them for our middle school LMC. It would prevent
security issues for us. I plan to use them for teachers to move student
files to laptops which will have DVD CDROM read/write capabilities.
This way, students would not be able to copy programs.
Mary Anne Brenner=20
Aileen Kay, Library Director
aileen.kay@smaa.org
St. Mary and All Angels School
7 Aliso Viejo, Ca 92656
(949)448-9027, x230
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