Education Backup Is Important for Students Too

In a previous post, we discussed why a student might need their data backed up now that more assignments are being completed and submitted via the cloud. If a student works hard on an assignment only to have it lost due to a technical glitch, do they deserve the bad grade that would normally result from not turning something in? Fortunately, backup can render this a moot point. And if students need to have their data backed up (and I think most students who’ve ever lost an assignment online would welcome it), then whose responsibility is it to provide the backup?

Ideally, students would take care of this themselves. Students aren’t generally known for their heavy focus on preparing for future catastrophes though (kindergartners almost never purchase life insurance), and besides, searching for a proper backup solution is probably over most of their heads.

Parents then? Increased parental involvement in their child’s education is always a good thing, and parents should advocate to have their children’s data backed up so that they can focus on getting good grades instead of hunting for things that they may have accidentally deleted. But not every parent is a seasoned IT professional capable of properly evaluating a backup solution. And many of them are running late for soccer practice.

So it falls to the schools then? Well, most schools now have technology systems in place that they require the students to work with. And since they’re providing the framework for the data to live in, it only makes sense that they make sure the data is safe. You see, data loss isn’t just a problem for the students and their GPAs. It’s a problem for teachers, who have to figure out what the plan is when a student comes to them upset about losing something they worked really hard on. It’s a problem for the IT departments who are then going to get the requests from teachers wondering how to get a student’s work back so they don’t have to give a bad grade to a good kid for something that’s maybe not all their fault. It’s a problem for administrators who may have to step in and get involved with these cases and it’s a problem for the parents who may get called in for a conference. It’s a pain in the neck for everyone, and it’s perfectly avoidable with a little bit of backup.

Backing up student work often isn’t on the radar for most schools, and with the long and constantly growing list of needs in education, it’s easy to see why. But now that education is taking place more often in the cloud, schools who are taking advantage of the cloud in the classroom need to know the risks of using it and safeguard against them, not just for their sake but for the sake of their students.