The shift to online education has changed the way kids, teens, and university students go to school, but no matter what your next semester or school year looks like, heading back to school means heading back to homework. If you’ve never lost your homework, you’re definitely one of the lucky ones. Between computer crashes, software issues, and professional disorganization, all of the work you just put into a term paper or a lab can disappear in the blink of an eye.
If your homework never makes it to its final destination, you’re going to have to spend even more time redoing it, and that’s time you could spend gaming, sleeping, relaxing, or doing anything other than a term paper.
Here are a few ways you can ensure your homework gets safely back to school this year.
Your backup hard drive will be your back to school companion
I get a little shiver when I see the alert on my computer that says I haven’t backed up in more than 30 days. It’s even more important now that everything I do is online, and I’ve been on the receiving end of a catastrophic computer crash where I lost everything. Backing up my work is part of my weekly routine.
When you’re taking classes online, backing up to a backup hard drive or thumb drive becomes even more important. A paper you’ve been working on for weeks or the research you’ve done for a project can disappear with a few strokes on your keyboard, and you won’t have the time to go back and do it all over again.
Make sure all of your homework makes it safely into the hands it’s supposed to by backing it up and always making extra file copies for yourself.
Backpacks keep your homework safe
Even if you only go to in-person classes one or two days a week, having a good backpack with available compartments is one of the most important back to school accessories you’ll buy.
Those compartments give you a place to store your homework when you need to transport it.
Use a cloud service to back up your homework
I always store work files on my computer, but it’s also a smart move to save your files to your cloud service when it’s something as important as your online or paper-based homework. Whether you subscribe to Google Drive or you use Dropbox, you can set your computer to automatically send your file to the cloud each time you save. If it is paper-based homework, you can scan it and send it to your cloud service. That way, you’ll never worry if your computer crashes while you’re working on your file.
Track your important devices via Bluetooth with Tile
You know your homework files are safe and sound if you put them on USB Flash drive, but what happens if you lose that drive? I’ve had my drive attached to my car keys before, only to have it slip off somewhere and disappear forever.
You can add an item tracker to your drive as an extra precaution, and having this handy little disc will eliminate the worry of ever losing that drive, your computer, or any other important device. Once it’s connected you can easily track your backpack, tablet, smartphone, or anything else you’d like to.
This fall it will be more important than ever to stay on top of your homework and get it safely into the hands it needs to be in. Whether you’d like to shop for backpacks, portable hard drives, or back to school supplies online or in person, it’s safe to shop at Best Buy. You can read about the precautions taken to ensure you have an easy shopping experience, and pick up everything you need for your new semester with a lot less stress.