Students will still need to periodically clean out their electronic lockers by tossing or archiving files, but 5 megabytes should be adequate for all student work in progress. Files become more easily used between platforms. The Windows world has a hard time reading Macintosh diskettes. Students making an Internet connection from home with their Windows machine will download Macintosh files directly on to their Window's hard drive. Programs like ClarisWorks, Microsoft Office and HyperStudio open files nicely regardless of the platform on which they have been created.
Students can submit papers electronically.
Once students get in the habit of saving to the server, lots of options become available. Students will need instruction in data privacy issues. All folders will be password protected and students will be unable to get access to other folders unless they know the password. The effectiveness of such a system will depend in large part on how well we teach our students about the importance of data privacy and security. Even our youngest students will need to know that you don't share your password with friends.