From punch cards to floppy disks, to flash drives, and recently cloud storage. the way we store data is still evolving and is revolutionizing the way teachers work.
With all these useful mediums that help store data, we’re going to dive into flash drives. If you’re new to flash drives, you might be asking: How do I use a flash drive?
A flash drive is one of the commonly used output devices that everyone needs on a daily basis especially those who are always dealing with a lot of paperwork. It is portable and conveniently stores all of the soft copies of files and multimedia that we work with.
You can easily find and purchase a flash drive from your local electronics shop, although there are many low-budget alternatives where prices will vary depending on how big the capacity of the flash drive is capable of.
A flash drive is also an essential teacher’s tool that is a part of their everyday life at work, from presentations and slideshows to soft copies of files and grades—it acts as a key that holds all the important things that a teacher needs for their role.
This is a helpful portable device that will enable you to virtually open your files from any computer.
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How Do I Use a Flash Drive?
Step 1: Find the USB Port of your Computer/Laptop
The USB Port is where the flash drive will be inserted. With computers, it is commonly placed in the front and back panel of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and as for laptops, it is usually placed on the sides.
If you are going to insert it on a computer, then I suggest using the USB Port on the front panel of the CPU because it is accessible to insert and remove it rather than using the USB Port on the back panel. The USB Ports on the back panel are usually used for inserting output devices such as a mouse, keyboards, and other devices.
Step 2: Insert your Flash Drive
Be careful when inserting your flash drive in the USB Port, some USB Ports are bigger than the average size that will be able to fit your flash drive so avoid the mistake of plugging your flash drive in the wrong port because it may lead to damage of the port and the flash drive itself.
Do not make the mistake of forcing it in the USB Port, you can only insert the flash drive in one way, double-check if you are inserting your flash drive in the correct way to avoid the bending of the metal tip of your flash drive.
When you have successfully inserted your flash drive, the computer will automatically install the drive to read the flash drive. You will see in the bottom right corner, within your notification bar, the progress of the installation Once it is complete, then an autoplay window will pop up and give options to you if you just simply want to navigate through the photos, videos, documents, or all the files in your flash drive.
If an autoplay window does not pop up, then go to your computer, and there you will see the devices that are inserted in your computer. Simply click the name of your flash drive and you will be able to browse the files.
If your computer did not successfully read your flash drive, the flash drive itself might be corrupted. You should contact the customer support of the flash drive or if you are inserting it on a Windows OS computer, then visit the Windows Compatibility Center and it will show all of the devices that are compatible with Windows.
Step 3: Navigate your files. Copy or Open it.
You can duplicate your files and directly copy them into the flash drive. Remember that if you are planning to copy a large file, it will take a long transfer process so make sure that you do not accidentally unplug the flash drive or it will halt the transferring process or worse, it might corrupt your file and also your flash drive.
Opening a file from your flash drive can also be possible, just make sure you copy the file from the flash drive to the computer for it to open even without the flash drive inserted in the computer.
Step 4: Properly Unplug your Flash Drive
Once you have finished copying files to your flash drive, it is time to unplug it. You do not, in any circumstances, just unplug the flash drive right then and there. If you do this, the flash drive will have a high chance of getting corrupted and once it is corrupted, you will have to reformat your flash drive meaning the files from your flash drive will be gone.
Before you remove the flash drive, make sure to right-click the icon of your flash drive on the Computer and select “Eject” or “Safely Remove Hardware”. Once the computer has notified you that it is safe to remove the device, you can now unplug it from your computer.
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3 Reasons Why Teachers Should Have And Use A Flash Drive
1.) Conveniently Portable
Flash drives are usually just the size of a thumb or smaller, this makes them incredibly portable and easy to bring along with you anywhere you go. Having a flash drive will make all your important files and documents accessible whenever you need them.
You can even use it and sling it along with a keychain, or simply slide them into your pocket. But I do recommend for you to store them where they won’t get easily lost because since they are small they do have a tendency to wander off inside your pocket or accidentally fall from it when you get something from your pocket.
2.) Small Yet Powerful
Flash drives are not to be underestimated, especially when it comes to how powerful they are. The largest storage capacity a flash drive is capable of today is about 1TB (around 1000GB), and that’s a lot. You’ll get to store so many things and still have space for more!
They’re also capable of storing multiple movies, music, videos, images, applications, and many more. They’re also handy so that your computer will not be packed up with files as you can just keep them in your flash drive so that your computer and other devices will not slow down.
3.) Compatibility
Flash drives are universal and can be used on most devices that we mostly use nowadays, there are even flash drives that are also known as OTG drives or USB OTGs which can be directly plugged into tablets and smartphones and also double as a USB drive for your computer or laptop.
You will no longer need to use USB cords just to connect your phone to your laptop as you can use an OTG drive to copy and move files whenever you want to. This makes them perfect for teachers because anything that’s double duty is a great teaching tool to save both time and effort while getting things done efficiently
Conclusion
The Flash Drive is prone to breakage, make sure to follow the correct steps in using the flash drive to avoid getting it corrupted.
The files that you will copy to the flash drive must be clean and should not have any viruses or malware so that the flash drive will be easily detected by any computer/laptop.
