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Shared folders can be a means of permitting students to work collaboratively from different computers. It is also a useful way for a teacher to distribute or collect documents to all students rather than going to every computer individually. A document in the shared folder is available to all students connected to the shared folder. (See item 8 below for cautions regarding overwriting documents in a shared folder.)

When you have set up a shared folder to use with your students, anything you save in that folder will be available to students on any computer in the lab and also to any other computers in the building that are connected to the same network hub. (School office computers use a different hub, so they will not have access.)

The folder is called the shared folder and it can be found in the "My Computer" folder on the desktop. It looks like a disk drive but it has a little pipe coming out of the bottom. That's what networked folders look like. On the computer set up as a server the folder will appear to have a little blue hand holding it. That's what a shared folder looks like on the "server" machine.

I'd recommend that separate subfolders should be set up in the shared folder  for each teacher who may be using the computer lab. Then the work of each class can be kept separate.

Possible Uses -  This shared folder can now be used for several kinds of activities:

1. In MS Word you can type out URLs for websites that you want students to visit and you can add specific instructions as to what the student should do at the website. Then save a document as HTML and place it in the folder. (Remember to test that the links do in fact go to the correct sites that you have chosen.) The result will be that students will know exactly where to go and what to do. No other alternatives will be available to them and there is no danger of students getting ito inappropriate websites. This document could also include specific instructions of which button to click on and what exactly you expect students to do.
    
2. You can create a worksheet of questions for students and save it as a file type "template" and put it in that folder. (Templates cannot be overwritten and students must change the name of the file when they save the document.) The result is that every child can open that file from their own computer and work on it separately. When they save it, you will have a choice where it will be saved: they can save their work on their own disk, on their own hard drive or into the teacher's subfolder in the shared (S) folder. This would save time and paper... no need to run off multiple paper copies of instructions for work being done on a computer, and for evaluation purposes all of the student's work could be in saved in the one shared folder .
    
3. If you chose to send a class email message to any destination, each child could write their message in word and save the document to the teacher's subfolder in the shared folder. Then the teacher would have all of the messages in one place and could open each one and copy and paste the text into one document which could be sent by email.
   
   Alternatively, the teacher could simply attach all of the student email messages to the email being sent. This would work well for simple text exchanges. However, if the document contains large graphics or photographs the file size may make it more efficient to attach no more than 5 or 6 documents to each email, and send other email messages to attach to others. Also, email messages could be written collaboratively and then there would be considerably fewer documents to attach.
    
4. Students working in groups could work on the same document but at different times, but be careful. (If they try working on the same document at the same time they will need to change the name of the document or save to their own computer when they save it, otherwise they can overwrite each other's work.)
    
5. If you have sufficient licenses and need to install new software to all computers in the lab this can be a really long process if you install each computer one at a time. With a shared drive you can save hours by placing the installation file into the shared folder. Then go to each computer in turn and double click on the install file. (Remember to delete the installation file after installing.) You will be able to install multiple computers simultaneously rather than one at a time.
    
6. Using shared folder for any part of student projects addresses this Technology Outcome:

C.5 - Students will use technology to aid collaboration during inquiry.

2.1 retrieve data from available storage devices, such as a shared folder, to which a group has contributed

7. If you school has a server, then the best way to set up a shared folder is simply to create a folder on the server called "shared folder" and set it with access privileges for everyone. Schools that do not have a server can set up shared folders using peer-to-Peer networking.
    

8. Cautions:
   
   All students can save to a shared folder. Files can be opened by all students. Consequently any student can accidentally corrupt, overwrite or delete a shared document. It is imperative that documents are saved to an alternate location as a back up every time a file is saved to the shared folder.

   It is important to remember that only certain kinds of files can be simultaneously opened by multiple students such as HTML documents, database files and templates. Most other regular documents saved in the shared folder can only be opened by one person at a time.

   Templates can be opened by multiple students at the same time but they are actually opening a copy of the template. This copy of the template must be saved with a new file name. The original template cannot be overwritten.

   HTML documents can be read by any number of users simultaneously but if the document is edited or changed it needs to be saved with a new file name or the last person to save will overwrite every one else's work. An HTML form can be used to input various student's data simultaneously without danger of overwriting any data. The data can be stored in a text file and imported into a database manually later.

   Database files (such as Access) would permit multiple students to access or enter data simultaneously.

   Programs like MindManager have a function which permits collaborative planning and more than one student is able to work on the same diagram at the same time without overwriting each other's work if they are also connected to the internet.