Due to different programs, and types of technology, some students encounter problems when working on the same file at home and at school. By the end of the 2012-13 school year, all PPS students should have PPS e-mail accounts. Until then, this page offers a few tips on how to make this process easier.

First, some general things to consider:

• Consider using a cloud-based editor like GoogleDocs or OfficeLive. These programs have a uniform format that can be used on any computer with an Internet connection.
• If you can afford a portable USB flash drive you can save your work to it. Anything over 1GB of memory will be fine; you might want to get one that is 4GB or larger if you create a lot of video files. AND DON'T LOSE YOUR DEVICE!
• A good alternative to having a USB drive is to use your PPS Y-Drive or send yourself a copy of the file attached to an e-mail.
• If you have MSOffice 2010 at home, these files (for example: .docx) will not open on older versions of MSOffice. You can easily downgrade the file AT HOME by using the "Save As" feature and then in the "Save as type:" window select "Office 97-2003 Document" or "Rich Text Format" (for editing) or PDF (for printing).
• When sending files to teachers for turn-in, you may want to send it as a PDF. This will ensure all of your fonts and formats appear on the teacher's computer.
• If your teacher does not give you a prescribed way to name files you should make it a habit to include your name in the file name. Your teacher may receive 5 files named "Egypt Project" but only one named "JSmithEgyptProject".