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Storing and Sharing

2.3

Intro

Ask any KS2 teacher what they think about their pupils' saving skills and you're likely to hear tales of woe about losing time in lesson after lesson due to work not being saved correctly.

But surely, you might say, Nursery age is a little young to be worried about such things?

Well...not quite. Whilst nobody expects Nursery pupils to be saving their work expertly, there is an expectation that they at least begin to understand the process.

Framework

2.3 - Storing and Sharing

  • Save work by clicking an icon.

Skill by Skill

  • Begin to understand that work can be saved and click on Save button.

(EAS ICT Skills Framework)

Vocabulary

save     open     button     work

Focus Task

What's that Button?

All that is expected for pupils of this age is that they begin to save work by clicking a button, and that they understand what saving means (i.e. that you can reopen the work at a later time). The key, as with most skills, is to model and give opportunities for practise. Here are a few suggestions:

Ideas:

  • When opening a pre-prepared presentation or document, always explain that you created it earlier, saved it and can therefore now open it again. Show them where the 'Save' button is.
  • When pupils finish work on a computer during the first few weeks of school, show them that you are clicking a special button to Save their work so that you can see it again later. The next time you are working on a computer with that pupil, open their old work to show them that clicking the Save button kept their work safe.
  • Be sure to include 'Clicking the Save button' as part of a focused task relatively early in the school year, and, from then on, to remind the pupils of it every time they do digital work.
save

Remember

  • The pupils don't have to type in a filename or choose a location, just get used to clicking the Save button before telling you their work is done.

Enhanced Provision

Online and Offline Save Buttons

Clicking the Save button needs to be second nature to the pupils by the time they leave Nursery.

  • Make sure there's big pictures next to your computers of the different Save buttons they may come across (depending on the software you use in class, possibly Purple Mash or J2E).
  • Anytime a pupil uses a computer, be it for a focused task or as enhanced provision, encourage them to save their project.
  • Have a big button in the middle of the class. When a pupil finishes any non-computer task, they should run to the button and hit it to 'Save' the work.