Most middle school students have computer access at home (100% of 8th graders), so there is no reason why students should not be able to work on basic word processing, spreadsheet, or even presentation documents. Although there are different types of computers and a variety of office programs,in this day and age there is no such thing as “incompatibility” between programs or different types of computers, but students may need some assistance in saving things so that they can work at both school and home. There is usually a elatively simple way to accomplish this:
1) The easiest way to transfer files between computers is with a flash drive. These are universally compatible with all computers (may need software installed for Windows 98), and students should buy the smallest, cheapest drive they can find – about $10 at Staples. I stopped doing the “bulk purchases” because it did not represent any significant savings (at least not enough to warrant the hassle).
2) Making files compatible between different word processing programs is a matter of finding a file type that they have in common. If a program cannot save in Word’s “.doc” format, “.rtf” is usually available. We have also installed translators for most common word processing programs (Works, Word Perfect, Lotus Notes, Office 2007), although not all files will open properly in Word when they are double-clicked: sometimes Word needs to be opened first and then using “File –> Open” will convert the file.
3) There are FREE office programs available, most notably Open Office for Windows and Neo Office for Mac. These two programs can open and save files in .doc (Word), .xls (Excel) and .ppt (Powerpoint) formats, and have most of the features that students use with the exception of themes and clipart. I have CDs and installation instructions for these programs for anyone who needs them. There are also free programs similar to Publisher and Inspiration.
4) Although computer access at home in our community is nearing 100%, there are still many households where the computer is aging or is shared by several people, so access may be difficult. For students who would use them for school work, I do still have some of our “retired” computers that I can give away. I appreciate your help in identifying students and households that would really make use of these: I have found in the past that most kids who want a free computer simply want something in their room to play games on, and they are not motivated by wanting to complete school work at home (surprised?). The computers that I have include all of the tools that students would need AND are Internet-capable, but they are not Windows-based so they would not be able to install their own software.
Please contact me with questions.