A digital resource hub is a location where students, parents, and others can go to find information related to you class. This location can be a web site, Google Classroom, Google Drive or other location. There are many different ways to set up a resource hub. It is also good to have one, single location where the students and parents go to find information about your class.
My Resource Hub
I actually don’t have a single resource hub, I have many. The main reason I have many is for access. Some things I want available to anyone on the Internet (my web site). Some things are only available to students in my classroom (Google Classroom and Drive). And some things are only available to individual students or other groups (Google Drive).
1. Web Site: access for anyone
My web site (allandidier.com) is my main resource hub as it allows for the easiest access and organization of my resources. It is open to the public and is easy for students and parents to access. It is also easy to me to update and modify over time. This has most of the information for my classes.
2. Google Classroom: access for my class only
Google Classroom is my classroom hub and my first, go-to hub for students. I use this because I can easily share information with just the students in that class and it is easy for the students to access. Much of what I share in Google Classroom, though, is just a link to my web site. Things such as Google Meet codes go in Google Classroom, not my website, because I only want students in my class to know the code. Resources in Google Classroom are hard to roll over from year-to-year, class-to-class, and there is little organization. My web site doesn’t have those problems.
3. Google Drive: customized access and modify rights
Google Drive is another hub because I can really customize whom I share the information with. I can share information with individual people, groups, or anyone on the Internet. It is also the only hub I use where others can actually modify the files in the hub. (Students can upload things to Google Classroom, but they can’t change what is in Google Classroom). Before I knew how to create web pages, I used a drive as my main resource hub. If you end up with a lot of files, Google Drive can be hard to find and organize things. Thus, my switch to a web site. Technical note: Google Classroom creates a Google Drive folder called “Classroom” which has class folders with customized access based on the students in the class.
Clever can be used as a resource hub and many teachers use it as such. The students know how to access it because it helps manage their passwords, so it is a simple place for them to go. It is also a web site. I don’t use it as I use my own web site instead.
Seesaw can be a good hub for younger students.