Remote Hard Disks: File Management at a Distance
2001; Project Innovation Austin; Volume: 122; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0013-1172
Autores Tópico(s)Experimental Learning in Engineering
ResumoWith the increasing importance of educational technology in recent years, an expanding number of educators are relying on computers to create instructional materials. A demonstration of technology application is the creation of multimedia files by K-12 teachers and college professors for instructional purposes. These files are often dispersed among different machines in different locations. As file size and the quantity of files increase, difficulties arise in the process of storing, organizing, transferring and sharing files. Floppy disks are inadequate for storage and transport because they simply do not contain enough storage space. Although some educators know how to use SuperDisks, Zip disks, or CD-ROMs, not all classroom labs are equipped with these drives. Efficient management of files in a single, powerful, reliable, and central hard disk becomes necessary. Many schools' technology labs are connected to the Internet, which connects computers and people together to share information and resources (Deal, 1999). Some educators, like the author, are fortunate to have grant money to set up their own servers. A file server stores data shared by the individual computer and handles all requests for network services (Grauer & Barber, 1994). Educators can distribute server accounts to their students free of charge. Teacher and student alike can then manage files in the server. A useful program for file management is WS_FTP, which allows the user to transfer files between a local hard disk and a remote file server. Consequently, the author set up a file server for use as a remote hard disk using WS_FTP. An immediate application of the remote hard disk was when the author visited Asia this past summer. The author could instantly retrieve her files from the remote hard disk for teaching, research, and project development in Asia. After revision, the files were instantly uploaded to the folders in the remote hard disk. This method provides a flexible teaching, research, and service opportunity for educators to manipulate files around the world. Furthermore, the author teaches a graduate teacher-education technology course away from the main campus of her university. She created many files, most of which are multimedia presentations, in preparation for teaching this class. Students were surprised that the professor arrived in class empty-handed. Since all the files were already on a remote hard disk, the author didn't need to carry around a notebook containing all the files and the peripheral equipment that would otherwise be necessary. From the instructor's demonstrations, the students saw the convenience of this method and requested to learn this skill. Maddux, Cummings, and Torres-Rivera (1999) suggested that the Internet and the World Wide Web have provided rich opportunities to improve instruction in higher education and that faculty therefore need to integrate technology into their instruction. After the instructor taught the technology to all classes, few complained about file management problems. The author has used this method to conduct class instruction and most class activities. Students are using this method to store their files, build electronic portfolios for classes, upload files for project presentations, post files for sharing, save HTML files for Web page publishing, organize files for their workshop teaching, and so on. Using this remote hard disk has become a regular class activity because there are always files to be read, saved and resaved, shared, transferred, and organized. Using WS_FTP to Access a Remote Hard Disk WS_FTP is described in this article because it is available for free use to educators and students, and widely used by Windows users. The license agreement for using WS_FTP LE (Limited Edition) free of charge can be found at http://www.ipswitch.com/support/LE_lice nse_agreement.html. Other free FTP shareware is readily available (e. …
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