Working in the Cloud

At Enlightium Academy, your student will do a lot of writing including short answers and essays. In some classes, they may even create slideshows. With all this writing, they will need both a dependable word processor and a reliable place to store their writings. 

 

A Dependable Word Processor

You probably know what word processors are, even if you don’t recognize the phrase. A word processor is a program that lets you write and edit text. Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Pages are some of the most common word processors. But how do you know which one is best for your student? Microsoft Word and Pages are both great choices, and the latter is included in the purchase of an Apple laptop. There are other free word processors available, such as LibreOffice. 

However, there is one word processor that may work best for online students: Google Docs. Why? There are two main reasons. 

First, as far as word processors go, it is an excellent product. Google Docs has a simple interface and plenty of flexibility. It can do all of the essentials that other programs can do, and you don’t have to deal with some of the obtuse workarounds that you may have with others. 

Second, it plays well with other file types; you can export your documents as .docx files, PDFs, and more. 

Please note that Ignitia won't allow a student to upload a Google Doc using the "upload" button. To submit a Google Doc to Ignitia, they'll need to download the document as a PDF or a Microsoft Word file.

 

Storage on the Cloud

Google Docs stores your documents in the cloud (and the option for locally, which we’ll discuss below). There are two main reasons to use the cloud.

The first reason to use the cloud is that it provides a miraculous backup system for your work. When you store documents locally, they are saved to your computer’s hard drive. But where your hard drive goes, your documents go also. And if anything happens to your computer like loss, theft, or being thrown into a volcano, you will lose those documents. 

On the other hand, if you store your documents in the cloud, they live elsewhere, floating outside your computer. They are there when you need to access them, but if anything happens to your computer (watch out for volcanoes!), your documents stay safe. If your computer does happen to be destroyed, your student can pick up on their work right where they left off from a different device.

This brings us to the second benefit of the cloud. The cloud allows you to work from multiple computers and places. Let’s say you go on a vacation during the school year, but your student still needs to work on a paper. Instead of copying the paper to a flash drive or emailing it to yourself, you can simply log in to your student’s Google account on a phone, tablet, or another computer, and they can work as normal. The cloud allows for a kind of flexibility that local storage does not.

Of course, Google Docs is not the only word processor that uses the cloud, but it is free and consistently reliable. Another free cloud-based storage option is WPS Docs.

 

Other Reasons to Use Google Docs

Google Docs allows for offline work, which works well for students who are working while on the road without internet access. You can also make suggestions, comments, bookmarks, a table of contents, and more.

Finally, if your student needs to do projects that involve more than just writing documents, Google has an entire suite of products. The most relevant is Google Slides. Slides stands on its own as a solid alternative to other slideshow creators like Microsoft PowerPoint and Prezi, and it also connects to the cloud. 

Online students should consider using a cloud storage space instead of just local storage. The built-in flexibility and backups that the cloud allows will be invaluable for your students’ work at Enlightium Academy.

Enlightium Academy is not officially associated with Google or any of its products. 

Enlightium Academy is a private Christian online school that serves homeschooling families by offering a Bible-based, flexible, accredited, teacher-supported, and affordable education from the comfort of your home. For any other questions about Enlightium, please call (509) 319-2288, or visit EnlightiumAcademy.com.