Using Devices, Keyboards and Files

A device is a machine such as a laptop or tablet. You can use it to write, draw, and learn. Press the power button once, then wait for it to start.

Your own account

Many school devices ask you to log in, or sign in. Your username says who you are. Your password is the secret code for your account. Type each in its own box. Passwords often appear as dots, so watch your fingers carefully.

Capital letters matter in a password. “Sun7” and “sun7” are different. If yours does not work, check Caps Lock and try again slowly. Keep your password private. Only trusted adults who look after your account should know it. Tell your teacher if someone else learns it.

Open and manage an app

The desktop or home screen has small pictures called icons. An icon can stand for an app, file, folder, or command. A house often means Home. A save icon often looks like a small square disk.

An app, also called a program, helps you do a job. A writing app helps you make a story. A drawing app helps you make a picture. Opening an app brings its work onto the screen, often in a window.

Many computer windows have buttons in a top corner:

• Minimize hides the window but keeps the app open.
• Maximize makes the window fill the screen.
• Close, often shown as ✕, closes the window.

Suppose your drawing disappears after you choose Minimize. Click the app's icon in the bar along the screen's edge. Your window comes back. That bar may be called the taskbar, Dock, or shelf.

Finish your session

Save your work before closing the app. On a shared device, choose Log out or Sign out when you finish. Closing a laptop lid usually puts it to sleep. Your account can still be open.

To turn a device off, choose Shut down or Power off in its menu. Holding the power button down can lose unsaved work. Do that only when an adult tells you to, such as when a device has frozen.

Use clean, dry hands and keep drinks away. Close a laptop before carrying it, and use two hands. Carry a tablet in its closed cover if it has one. Tell an adult about damage.

The small arrow on your screen is the pointer. Move a mouse across the desk, or slide one finger on a trackpad, to move it. Point first, then choose the action you need.

Click, open, and see choices

Rest your palm on the mouse. Put your pointer finger on its left button. Your middle finger rests on the right button. Move the whole mouse gently. If you reach the desk's edge, lift the mouse and set it nearer the middle. Lifting it does not move the pointer.

A click is one press and release of the left button. It can select an icon or press an on-screen button. A double-click is two quick clicks without moving the mouse. In many desktop folder windows, this opens a file or folder.

If a file only becomes highlighted, your two clicks may be too slow. Keep the mouse still and try two quicker clicks. On a trackpad, one finger moves the pointer. A tap or press clicks, depending on its settings.

A right-click opens extra choices for the thing under the pointer. Try it on a file to find Rename or Copy. On most trackpads, tap or click with two fingers. On a Mac, Control-click also opens this menu.

Drag something to a new place

Imagine moving a drawing inside an app. Point at the drawing. Hold the left mouse button down, move the mouse, then release at the new spot. You must keep holding while you move.

With a trackpad, press down and keep pressing while sliding your finger. If you release too soon, the item lands early. Use Undo if it moved to the wrong place, then try again.

See more of a page

Scrolling moves your view up or down. Roll the mouse wheel, or slide two fingers on most trackpads. Your writing stays the same; you see a different part of the page.

The pointer's shape can help you. An arrow points at things. A little hand often appears over a link. A tall “I” shape appears over text you can work with. Move over a sentence and watch the shape change. This shape is different from the blinking line that marks where typing will appear.

A touch screen responds to your fingertip. Touch it lightly with a clean, dry finger. Many screens also work with a special pen called a stylus.

Quick touches and held touches

To tap, touch once and lift your finger. This works like a mouse click. A single tap opens an app on a tablet's home screen.

To double-tap, touch twice quickly in the same place. Many apps use this to enlarge a picture or select a word. The result depends on the app, so look at what changed.

A press and hold keeps your finger still on one spot for about a second. This often opens a menu of choices. It does a similar job to a right-click. On a home screen, it may let you move an app icon.

Slide to look or move

A swipe is a quick slide followed by lifting your finger. You might swipe to turn a page or see the next photo. To drag an item, keep touching it while moving slowly. Lift your finger where the item should land.

Suppose you are arranging picture cards in a touch-screen activity. Touch a card, slide it to its box, then lift your finger. A quick swipe across the page would usually change your view instead of placing the card carefully.

Make your view larger or smaller

Put two fingers on a picture. Spread them apart to zoom in. Pinch them together to zoom out. Think “spread for bigger.”

For a map photo, spread over a tiny label to read it. Pinch afterward to see the whole map again. Zooming changes how closely you look. It does not add new details to the picture.

Type on the screen

Tap a box where you can write. An on-screen keyboard appears. Tap its letters to type. The arrow key, Shift, gives a capital letter. A key marked “123” or something similar shows numbers and symbols. Choose “ABC” to bring the letters back.

You can carry these skills between devices. A tap matches a click, and a press and hold often matches a right-click. Swiping can scroll, just as a mouse wheel does. Dragging keeps its hold-move-release pattern on either kind of screen.

Most English keyboards use the QWERTY layout. Its name comes from the first six letters in the top letter row. The letters are not in ABC order. Above them sits a row of numbers, from 1 through 9 and then 0.

Put words and lines in place

Press the long space bar once between words. The cursor is the blinking line showing where the next character goes. A character can be a letter, number, mark, or space.

Enter, called Return on a Mac, starts a new paragraph or a line you choose to end. It can also confirm a choice, like OK. Do not press it whenever you reach the screen's edge. A writing app moves words onto the next line for you.

Tab moves to the next box in a form. In a document, it can add a wide space at the start of a line. The arrow keys move the cursor without erasing text. Use them to reach a spot inside a word.

Fix a typing slip

Backspace erases the character just left of the cursor. On a Mac, this key is labeled “delete.” Some keyboards also have a separate Delete key. That one erases to the right.

For “catt” with the cursor at the end, press Backspace once. You get “cat.” If the cursor were before the extra final “t,” the separate Delete key would remove it. Check the cursor's position before you erase.

Capitals and shortcuts

Hold Shift while pressing a letter to make one capital. Release it for small letters again. Shift also types the upper mark on a key with two symbols.

Caps Lock stays on until you press it again. It makes letters capitals, but it does not act like holding Shift for number-row symbols. Check its light if letters keep appearing in capitals.

For a shortcut, hold Ctrl, tap another key, then release both. On a Mac, many shortcuts use Command (⌘) instead. Ctrl + S or Command + S saves. The plus signs mean “press together”; you do not type a plus sign.

The Esc key cancels an action or closes a menu. If a menu is open and you decide against it, try Esc.

You already know how to write a sentence. Typing adds another job: choosing the right keys and spaces. Read what appears on the screen, including the little marks.

Capitals and number keys

Use a capital at the start of a sentence, in names, and for “I.” Hold Shift while you type each capital. Caps Lock helps with a whole capital word such as “STOP.” A whole message in capitals can look like shouting.

Numbers use the top row. The number 0 and letter O look alike, but the device treats them differently. So do the number 1 and small letter l. To type “Room 10,” press the number keys 1 and 0.

Punctuation on a US keyboard

The period and comma sit near M. Type them without Shift. For other marks:

• Hold Shift and press / for a question mark.
• Hold Shift and press 1 for an exclamation point.
• Hold Shift and press 2 for @.
• Use the key next to Enter for an apostrophe.
• Hold Shift with that same key for quotation marks.

Put no space before a period, comma, question mark, or exclamation point. Put one space after it when more text follows. “Hello , Sam .” becomes “Hello, Sam.”

Build a sentence, then check it

Try the example “My dog Max is 3 years old!” Start with Shift for the first M. Type the words with one space between them. Use Shift again for the M in Max. Press 3 without Shift. At the end, hold Shift and press 1.

You held Shift three times: twice for capitals and once for the exclamation point. The sentence has 26 characters, including its spaces and final mark.

A short thank-you note needs a greeting, message, and your name. You could type “Dear Ms. Patel,” then press Enter. Type “Thank you for the trip to the zoo.” Start another line for “From Leo.”

Read your message back. Check names, numbers, capitals, and spaces. A red wavy line may point out a spelling mistake. It will not check every number or space for you.

Touch typing means using all ten fingers without watching the keys. Your fingers learn their own keys through practice. Your eyes can stay on your writing, where you can spot mistakes.

Set up your seat

Sit back with your back straight and shoulders relaxed. Put your feet flat on the floor or a footrest. Keep your elbows bent near your sides. You should be able to reach the keyboard without stretching forward.

Hold your wrists straight, a little above the keyboard while typing. Do not bend them upward or press them onto the desk edge. Place the screen about an arm's length away. Its top should be at or a little below eye level. Ask an adult to help adjust your seat or screen.

Find your starting keys

The home row is the middle letter row. Place your fingers like this:

• Left hand, little finger to pointer finger: A, S, D, F.
• Right hand, pointer finger to little finger: J, K, L, semicolon.
• Thumbs: lightly over the space bar.

Feel the bumps on F and J with your pointer fingers. These bumps let you find the starting position without looking. Curve your fingers gently, as though holding a small ball.

Tap a key lightly, then return to its home key. Your home row is a starting place between reaches. It is not the only row you will type.

Check a shifted hand

Suppose you mean to type “dad,” but get “fsf.” Your left hand may have slid one key right. The fingers that should press D and A now press F and S. Move back and feel for F's bump with your left pointer finger.

Before beginning a practice, find both bumps, place the other fingers, then look up. This short check catches a misplaced hand before you type a whole line.

Practice without strain

Learning the finger movements takes weeks of regular practice. Use light taps instead of pressing harder when a letter is difficult. Take short breaks to stretch your fingers and look far away. If your hands, wrists, or eyes hurt, stop and tell an adult.

Every finger has its own keys. Use the same finger for each key each time. A key's column slants, so a finger often reaches a little sideways as well as up or down.

The left hand

Start with your left fingers on A, S, D, F. Follow these groups:

Your left pointer finger covers two columns. It reaches toward the keyboard's middle for T, G, and B. Your left little finger also uses Tab, Caps Lock, and left Shift.

The right hand

Start on J, K, L, and semicolon.

The right little finger also handles outside keys such as apostrophe, Enter, Backspace, and right Shift. Use a thumb for Space.

Reach out, then come home

To type “jet,” press J with your right pointer finger. Reach from D to E with your left middle finger, then return. Reach from F toward T with your left pointer finger, then return.

Begin with home-row words such as “sad,” “lad,” and “salad.” Add a few new keys at a time. Learning E and I, then R and U, gives you more words to practice without learning the whole keyboard at once.

Use both hands for a capital

Hold Shift with the little finger of the hand opposite the letter. For “Tom,” your left pointer finger types T while your right little finger holds Shift. For “Jen,” your right pointer finger types J while your left little finger holds Shift.

The number row follows similar columns, two rows above home. Your left little, ring, and middle fingers type 1, 2, and 3. Your left pointer handles 4 and 5. Your right pointer handles 7; then middle, ring, and little handle 8, 9, and 0. Typing charts give 6 to either pointer finger. Choose one and keep using it.

If a key feels hard to reach, slow down and use its assigned finger. Switching fingers each time makes the movement harder to learn. Keep looking at the screen so you can check what you actually typed.

A steady typing beat helps you choose the right keys. Keep your eyes on the screen or the text you are copying. Begin slowly enough to use the correct fingers.

Choose careful practice

Accuracy tells you how much of your typing is correct. If you rush and make many errors, you spend time fixing them. A higher speed with lots of wrong characters is not better work.

Practice for about ten minutes on most days. Short, regular practice helps your fingers remember their movements. Keep using the same fingers when writing a real story or report too. A typing game can give useful feedback, but the score is only useful if you also watch your accuracy.

Work out words per minute

Typing speed uses words per minute, or WPM. For this measure, each five characters count as one word. Spaces and punctuation count too. This makes the measure fair when different passages have long or short words.

First divide the characters by five. Then divide by the number of minutes:

For 150 characters in two minutes:

1. Turn characters into typing words: $150÷5=30$.
2. Share them across the two minutes: $30÷2=15$.

The speed is 15 WPM. Counting only the spaces between real words would use a different measure. For example, “I like my cat.” has 14 characters, even though it has four written words.

Read an accuracy score

To find accuracy, count correct characters out of all typed characters:

Suppose you type 200 characters and 10 are wrong. That leaves 190 correct.

Your accuracy is 95%. That means 95 out of each 100 characters were correct overall. If percentages are new, start by comparing the correct count with the total count.

Compare your own scores over several weeks. Aim for careful typing with a steady rhythm. As the correct movements become familiar, you can gradually type faster.

The cursor is the blinking line in your writing. It shows where the next character will appear. The mouse pointer moves around the screen; the cursor stays where typing will happen.

Add text in the middle

Click where you want to write, or tap there on a touch screen. You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys. Typing adds characters at that spot and moves the following text along.

Suppose you wrote “The dog ran.” Click just before “dog.” Type “big ” with a space at the end. You now have “The big dog ran.” Without that space, you would get “bigdog.”

Select before you replace

Selecting text means highlighting the part you want to change. Drag across it, double-click a word, or hold Shift while pressing an arrow key. Ctrl + A selects all the text; use Command + A on a Mac.

In many apps, three quick clicks select a paragraph. Watch the highlight to see exactly what is selected. Typing replaces everything highlighted. Backspace or Delete removes everything highlighted. Click somewhere else in the text to unselect it.

To change “small” to “tiny,” select just “small,” then type “tiny.” If a whole sentence disappears, you may have selected more than you intended.

Take back a change

Use Undo to reverse your latest change. Its shortcut is Ctrl + Z, or Command + Z on a Mac. You can use it several times to go farther back. Redo brings an undone change back again.

Redo often uses Ctrl + Y or Ctrl + Shift + Z. On a Mac, it is often Command + Shift + Z. If you forget, look for Undo and Redo in the menu or use the curved-arrow buttons.

Help readers notice a title

Select the title before changing its appearance. B makes text bold, I makes it italic, and U underlines it. You can also choose a new size or color. Ctrl + B or Command + B switches bold on or off.

If you press Bold without selecting old words, the letters you type next become bold. Your existing title stays the same. Select the title, then choose Bold to change the words already there.

You can move a sentence without typing it again. You can also reuse words while keeping the first copy. Cut, Copy, and Paste do these jobs.

Choose between cut and copy

Copy leaves the selected text in place and puts a copy on the clipboard. Cut removes the selected text and puts it on the clipboard. Paste inserts the clipboard's contents at the cursor.

The clipboard is a hidden holding place. It usually holds the latest thing you cut or copied. Pasting does not empty it, so you can paste the same words again. Copying or cutting something new usually replaces what it held.

Use Copy for a song's repeated chorus. Use Cut to move a story sentence to a better place. Copying when you mean to move leaves the sentence in two places.

Move a sentence step by step

Your draft says “I brushed my teeth. I woke up.” To put the events in order:

1. Select “I woke up.” and choose Cut.
2. Click at the start of the remaining sentence.
3. Choose Paste.
4. Check the space between the sentences.

The result should read “I woke up. I brushed my teeth.” Add one space between the sentences and remove an extra one if needed.

Use shortcuts or menus

You can also right-click selected text to see these commands. On a touch screen, select text and press and hold to find the menu.

Paste soon after cutting. If you copy something else first, it can replace your cut words on the clipboard. Use Undo if you cut the wrong text. If Paste inserts an unexpected phrase, select and copy the words you actually need before trying again.

Use the same idea for pictures and files

You can cut, copy, and paste pictures, including between documents. Copy and paste also makes a second file in a folder. To move a file on Windows or a Chromebook, cut and paste it. On a Mac, copy the file with Command + C, open the new folder, then press Command + Option + V to move it.

A document is writing made in a writing app, or word processor. It could be a report, letter, or poster. Before opening a blank page, decide what your reader needs to see.

Build the writing

For a short report, plan a title, a few paragraphs, and a useful picture. Open a new blank document. Type your title, then press Enter. Write each paragraph and press Enter once when that paragraph ends.

Select the title to make it bold or larger. Let the app wrap ordinary lines itself. Your paragraphs keep related sentences together, so readers can follow one idea at a time.

Add the picture

Click where the picture should go. Choose Insert, then Image or Picture. You might choose a saved picture, take one with the device's camera, or use a picture collection your teacher allows.

Select the picture to see small squares or circles called handles. Drag a corner handle to resize it while keeping its shape. Watch the picture as you drag. Undo if its shape changes, then use the app's keep-shape setting. A side handle can stretch or squash a picture in apps that allow free resizing.

To move a selected picture, drag it to the place your app allows. Some apps keep it in a line of text; in that case, cut it and paste at the new cursor position. To remove it, select it and press Backspace or Delete.

Use and credit pictures fairly

Choose a picture you made or are allowed to use. Finding a picture online does not give you permission to reuse it. Keep any required credit with it.

Under a picture from your class collection, you could write “Picture from the class picture library.” You can label your own photo too: “Photo by Ana.” A caption tells readers about the picture; a credit names its maker or source.

Read the finished page

A red wavy line can mark a possible spelling mistake. Right-click the word to see suggestions. Read each suggestion before accepting it. A spell checker can miss a real word used wrongly. In “I red a book,” “red” is a word, but the sentence needs “read.”

Read the whole document aloud. Check that the title matches the writing and the picture fits. For “My Pet Rabbit,” you could include a paragraph about food, another about care, and a photo labeled “Snowy eating a carrot. Photo by Ana.” Save after making your final changes.

A file is one piece of saved work, such as a drawing or story. Work that has not been saved can disappear when the app closes or the device loses power.

Save early and often

Choose File, then Save, click the save icon, or press Ctrl + S. On a Mac, use Command + S. The first save asks for a name and a folder. Notice both so you can find the file later.

Save every few minutes and after a useful bit of writing. Always save before closing. Imagine writing for 20 minutes before the battery runs out. If you saved three minutes earlier, only those last three minutes are at risk. Without any save, all 20 minutes are at risk.

Save or Save As?

Save updates the file you are working on. Save As, sometimes called Save a copy, creates another file. You choose its name or place. The first file keeps the version you last saved there.

Suppose “Story” is saved and you want to try a new ending. Choose Save As and name the new file “Story version 2.” Make your changes in this new version, then save it. You can still open the first story to compare the endings.

If you choose Save on the original story after changing its ending, you update that original. You have not made a separate version.

Check automatic saving

Many online writing apps use autosave. They save as you work, often before you ever choose Save. Look for a message such as “Saved” or a cloud symbol showing that saving has finished.

If the internet connection drops, wait for it to return and check the saved message before closing. A page still on your screen may contain changes that have not reached online storage yet.

Files can live on the device, on the school's network, or online. Online storage is often called the cloud. Log in to your online storage from another device to reach the files kept there. A file saved only on one laptop will not appear in your cloud storage by itself.

Read the closing message

Some apps ask whether to save when you close with unsaved changes. Choose Save to keep them. “Don't Save” throws away changes since the last save. Read the message before clicking; closing an app is not a saving method.

A file name tells you what is inside. “Document1” gives little help when you have many files. “Volcano report” gives you something useful to recognize or search for.

Say what the file contains

Keep a name short and clear. Include the topic and kind of work. Add a version word or number when needed: “Volcano report draft 2.” This separates your new draft from an earlier one.

A class can agree on a pattern such as name, subject, and task. “Leo - Science - Plants” follows that order. Use the same pattern every time so the files line up clearly.

Put dates in order

For file names, write dates as year-month-day. Use two digits for the month and day. “2026-03-14 Volcano report” means March 14, 2026. Hyphens separate the parts.

Sorting by name puts these examples in time order:

1. “2025-12-01 Volcano notes”
2. “2026-03-14 Volcano report”
3. “2026-11-02 Volcano poster”

The year is compared first, then the month, then the day. A month-first name can put a new year's January file before an older year's December file. Avoid slashes in dates used as names.

Keep numbered parts in order

Some apps compare names one character at a time. They can put “Story 10” before “Story 2,” because 1 comes before 2. A leading zero solves this for numbers up to 99: “Story 01,” “Story 02,” “Story 10.” Give every number the same number of digits.

Use letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, or underscores in names. Many computers reject marks such as slashes, a colon, a question mark, or quotation marks. A simple name works across more devices.

Rename without replacing work

Right-click a file and choose Rename. Type the new name and press Enter. In many online writing apps, click the document title at the top to rename it.

If saving brings up a message about replacing an existing file, stop and read it. Replacing can remove the older work. Give your new version a different name when you want both. Some online stores allow duplicate names, but those files are easy to mix up.

A folder holds files and other folders. Its icon often looks like a paper folder. Grouping work by subject or project gives you a place to look later.

Build a simple folder tree

Open your files app at the place where the folder should live. Choose New folder, give it a clear name, then press Enter. On many computers, you can also right-click an empty space to find New folder.

A folder inside another folder is a subfolder. You could make Science and Writing inside Schoolwork. Then make Plants project inside Science. The route “Schoolwork › Science › Plants project” is a path. Open each folder in that order.

Keep the plan simple enough to remember. For six loose files, put “Plants report” and “Plants photo” in Science. Put “Times tables quiz” and “Fractions poster” in Math. Put “My poem” and “Story 01” in Writing.

Move or copy?

Moving puts a file in a new place and removes it from its old place. Copying makes a separate second file. Changing one separate copy does not change the other.

To move on Windows or a Chromebook, select the file and choose Cut. Open the new folder and choose Paste. On a Mac, use Command + C to copy the selected file, open the new folder, then Command + Option + V to move it there.

Dragging between folders on the same drive normally moves a file. Dragging to another drive may copy it. Check the action shown while dragging, or use the move commands when you need a move. Afterward, open the destination folder and check your file is there.

To make a second copy, use Copy, then Paste inside the other folder. Decide which copy you will keep working on so you do not edit the wrong version.

Delete with care

Right-click an unwanted file and choose Delete, or Move to Trash on a Mac. On Windows, the Delete key can do this after selection. On a Mac, use Command + Delete.

Many devices first put deleted files in the Recycle Bin or Trash. Restore a file from there if you deleted it by mistake, before the bin is emptied. Deleting a folder also deletes its contents, so open it and check before deleting.

In a shared folder, other people can open the files too. Put your own work in the right place. Do not move, rename, or delete someone else's file.

You do not need to start your work again when a file seems missing. Try the places and tools that help you find saved work.

Follow a path

Start in the folder where you saved. For “Schoolwork › Science › Plants project,” open Schoolwork, then Science, then Plants project. Look there for “Leo - Science - Plants.” Double-click to open it in many desktop files apps, or tap it on a touch screen.

Inside a writing app, File and then Open lets you browse to a file. The shortcut is Ctrl + O, or Command + O on a Mac.

Recent, search, or sort

The Recent list shows files you worked on lately. Try it first for yesterday's story. A recent list helps you reach a file; it is not a new storage folder for the work.

Use search when you remember part of the name. In the files app or online storage, type a word such as “volcano.” Search often ignores capitals, so it can find “Volcano report.” Some search tools also look inside documents. Check the result's name and location before opening.

Sorting changes the order of a file list. Sort by name to see A to Z. Sort by Date modified with newest first when you remember working on the file recently. In many files apps, click the Name or Date modified heading. Check which direction the list runs.

Check downloaded and deleted files

To download is to copy a file from the internet onto your device. Downloads often go into a folder named Downloads. Look there for a picture you just downloaded, even if your report lives in Schoolwork.

If a file was deleted by mistake, look in Recycle Bin or Trash. A file there may be restored before the bin is emptied. If you still cannot find your work, ask your teacher.

For a missing drawing, you might check Recent first. Next, search for a word you used in its name. Check Downloads if you obtained it online. Check Trash if you may have deleted it. Once found, put it in a folder you recognize and use a clear name.

Printing makes a paper copy of your work. Open the print screen with File and then Print, the printer icon, or Ctrl + P. On a Mac, use Command + P.

Look before you print

The print preview shows how the pages will look on paper. Check that the writing fits and no picture hangs off a page. Look through every page you plan to print. A blank extra page is easier to notice here than after printing.

Read for spelling mistakes before opening Print. If you spot a problem in the preview, return to the document, fix it, and check again.

Choose the settings

Pick the correct classroom printer from the list. Then choose your pages and number of copies. Pages tell the printer which parts of the document you want. Copies tell it how many sets of those pages you need.

To print page 3 only, enter “3” in the pages box. To print pages 2 and 3, enter “2-3.” The hyphen includes both ends of that range. Choose black and white when color is not needed.

Suppose a document has four pages. You and a partner each need pages 2 and 3. Choose pages “2-3” and two copies. Each copy contains two pages:

That is four printed pages. If printing uses one side of each sheet, you need four sheets. The pages setting “2-3” is different from asking for three copies.

Send one job

Press Print once, then wait. Each press can send another job. If nothing appears, check the printer name and ask an adult. Pressing Print repeatedly can make several unwanted sets appear later.

Collect the pages when they are ready. Ask an adult if the paper runs out or jams. Checking the preview, page range, and copy count before printing saves paper and ink.

Sharing online lets someone open your work without a paper copy. You might hand it in through a class app, place it in a shared folder, or use a Share button.

Upload or share a saved file

An upload copies a file from your device to a website or online storage. To hand in a saved drawing, choose the file and start the upload. Wait for it to finish before closing the page. A download goes the other way, from online storage to your device.

A Share button lets you give people access to a file. You can add their names or send a link. Check both the people and the link setting before you finish.

Choose what each person can do

Choose the smallest permission that does the job. A teacher giving feedback may need comment access. A partner adding a paragraph needs edit access. A classmate reading your finished story may only need view access.

For a rainforest slideshow, give your two partners edit access. Each can add their own slides. Give your teacher comment access for feedback without changes to the slides themselves.

Some links open only for people you selected. Others let anyone with the link open the file. A link limited to chosen people is the safer schoolwork setting. Sending a link does not always mean everyone receiving it has access; check the setting.

Share with the people your teacher or trusted adult agrees to. Keep passwords and private details, such as your home address, out of shared work.

Work kindly in a shared file

Agree who will work on each part. Change your own part unless the group agrees otherwise. Do not erase someone else's work. Write comments that help with the task.

“I like your volcano picture. Could you add a label for the lava?” tells a partner what would help. “This is bad” does not explain what to improve.

Share your own words and pictures, or work you are allowed to use. Keep picture credits with the pictures, including when the whole document is shared.