A common difficulty for students is losing important electronic files of their assessments and study notes. There is nothing so frustrating as losing work and having to redo it. Maintaining version control of files is an associated difficulty. Listed below are tips for storing and organising your files.
Using Folders
For each unit of study, create a file folder. Create subfolders within each folder; you may choose to create a folder for each week/topic, and a folder for each assessment task. Save summaries, readings, resources, notes and assessment drafts in each sub-folder.
Maintaining Version Control
When an assignment is redrafted, use 'Save As' to save the document with the current date so that the latest version is saved in a new file. This assists with version control, which is especially important when files are saved in two or more places. If the worst happens and a file is lost or corrupted, you will at least have earlier versions of the work.
Storing Documents
Portable hard drives have very large storage and USB drives are small and convenient to carry around. However, files can be easily lost from drives and computers through viruses, computer malfunctions and poor file storage, or through misplacing the drive or USB. Consider using online storage such as Google Docs, Dropbox or OneDrive. You are able to access these files from any device that has the internet. Other students can be given access to selected files as 'users' to provide feedback or to work as a team on an assignment.