The Work Collector: Students Upload Files Straight to YOUR Drive

How do your students send you their work from iPads or laptops? Through Google Drive? Dropbox? Student Server? Do you use Showbie? How about SeeSaw? Or do you go old school and have them save to a flash drive? There are MANY ways that work can be submitted from both laptops and iPads. If you are an elementary school teacher then you know the obstacles that arise when we try to get 6 year olds to send us their work from their iPads.

Are you ready to have your world turn upside down??? Enter...

*The Work Collector*

Now, I have casually mentioned The Work Collector in some of my posts and several of you have commented about wanting to know more. Yes, indeed, The Work Collector needs to have its very own post.

An extremely brilliant ITRT on my team, Michael Price, adapted this script (what you run when you follow the step by step directions) from Amit Agarwal  and turned it into an incredible tool that I use and many of my teachers use in the classroom. I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am of Michael's creation!

The Work Collector can be created in just a few steps and it automatically creates a folder in your Google Drive that students send their work to in just a couple of clicks on a computer or taps on an iPad. NO LOGINS NEEDED for this!! After you follow the directions to install your Work Collector, a link populates that your students can navigate to from laptops or iPads which will allow them to attach a file and send it to the folder that was automatically created in your Drive. Here is what that website link looks like:

Students click "Choose File" and select the file they want to submit from the camera roll (when working with iPads) or wherever they saved their file on their computer.

I don't even have students enter their name in the "Your name..." box because the files come into your Google Drive labeled as how they are saved. (You might want to have your students save their files as: FirstName_Project Title if working on computers. You cannot name the files on an iPad) Students click "Upload File", wait for the "You have uploaded your file successfully" message and then BOOM! Their file pops up in the Work Collector folder that is automatically generated in your Drive when you run the script. Note: You need to upload one file through your Work Collector website before the Work Collector folder appears in your Drive.

Click {HERE} for the directions on how to create your own Work Collector. 

Work submitted from iPads can be done two different ways:
           1. You could bookmark your Work Collector link to your ipad screen. Follow {THESE} directions if you are not familiar with how to bookmark websites on iPads.
           2. Turn your Work Collector link into a QR code. This is my favorite option. I project my Work Collector QR Code on the screen that students scan to submit their work:

My teachers have their QR Code printed and posted in a central location in their room:

Many people have asked if the Work Collector can send student work to certain folders within Drive. Unfortunately it is not THAT smart. All I do is drag the files that come to my Work Collector folder to a separate folder I create in my Drive. It takes seconds.

I also know of teachers who make their Work Collector folder "view only"and bookmark that folder on their iPads or make the link available for students to access. This allows students to double check and make sure their work has been submitted.

Work Collector Directions

Doug Saunders, an incredible high school ITRT in our county, made this tutorial video if you are interested in checking it out!

Head on over to Technology Erintegration to check out how she uses the Work Collector in her classroom!