Computer Skills
Beginner
60 mins
Teacher/Student led
Learning Goals
Learning Outcomes
+80 XP
What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC or iPad/Tablet

Cloud Storage & School Accounts

Learn to sign in and out of cloud storage safely on shared computers, use sync and sharing features, and understand why 'Remember me' is risky on school lab machines.

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    1 - Introduction

    Why this lesson matters

    Think about the last time you used a computer that wasn't yours: a college lab PC, a community library desktop, a machine at your Work Experience placement. If you signed into your school email or cloud drive and walked off without signing out, the next person in that seat had a door into your account. Today you'll learn the small set of checks that keep your work safe on any shared machine, while still getting the benefit of working across computers.

    By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

    • Sign in and out of OneDrive or Google Drive safely on any computer
    • Use sync, sharing and version history to work across machines
    • Explain why 'Remember me' is a trap on a shared computer

    Warm-up

    You finish a shift at your Work Experience placement. Your supervisor's PC is still signed into your personal school OneDrive. You're in a rush, so you close the browser tab and leave. On a scale of 'nothing will happen' to 'my account is wide open', what's the real risk, and why?

    👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

    +5 XP

    2 - Key Concepts

    Before you work through the walkthrough, here are the four ideas you'll be using. These turn cloud storage from a convenience into something actually safe to use on a shared machine.

    ConceptWhy it mattersExample
    Cloud storage — files kept on a provider's servers and accessed through a browser, not on the computer's own hard driveYou can open your work from any computer without carrying a USB stick, and nothing is lost if the machine diesA Work Experience placement PC crashes mid-shift; you sign in on a different computer and every file is still there
    Sync — the cloud provider updates every signed-in device with the latest version of each fileA change you make on one machine appears on another automatically, without emailing files to yourselfYou update your CV on the college lab PC; at home 10 minutes later the new version is already there
    Version history — a record of every saved state of a file, with a button to roll backIf you or someone you shared with damages a file, you can restore a good earlier copyYou accidentally delete a paragraph from your Work Experience log; version history lets you restore yesterday's copy
    Sharing — giving specific people access to a file or folder, with read-only or editing rightsSupervisors, Citizens Information advisors, and mentors expect shared links, not random email attachmentsYou share your apprenticeship application draft with a mentor for feedback using a view-only link

    One more thing: sign-in sessions

    When you sign in, the browser keeps you logged in until you sign out or close the session. On a shared computer that's a door into your account for the next person who sits down. Ticking 'Remember me' at login props that door open for days or weeks. The walkthrough ends with a clean sign-out for a reason.

    👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

    +10 XP

    3 - Step-by-step Task

    In this walkthrough you'll open your cloud drive on a school account, verify a file is fully saved, test that the file opens from what acts like a second machine (a private / Incognito window), look at version history, share with a peer using view-only permission, and sign out the clean way. Use any existing document in your Digital_Portfolio folder as the file you test with.

    +15 XP

    4 - Common Issues

    Common Issues

    IssueSolution
    The profile shows a personal account instead of your school accountClick the profile circle and sign out, then sign back in with your school email. Don't just open a second tab — older tabs keep the wrong account alive.
    Your file's title bar shows 'Saving...' or 'Uploading' and won't clear to 'Saved' / 'All changes saved'Check your internet connection. If the connection is fine, give it 30 seconds. If it still won't finish, refresh the page — your latest typed changes may need to be re-entered, but nothing already saved is lost.
    You realise you forgot to sign out on a shared computer after leavingGo to your account settings from any device and choose 'Sign out everywhere' (or 'Sign out of all sessions'). Change your password straight afterwards.
    The person you shared with says they can't open the fileCheck the share dialog: if you set it to 'Specific people' they must use the exact email address you added. Make sure they are signed into that account, not a different one.
    You accidentally shared as 'Editor' / 'Can edit' instead of view-onlyRight-click the file, open the share dialog again, and change their permission to 'Viewer' / 'Can view'. The change takes effect immediately.
    +10 XP

    5 - Independent Practice

    Independent Practice

    Your goal: Run the same sign-in, sync, share, version-history and sign-out checks on your own Digital Portfolio so you can move between school, Work Experience, and home computers without ever leaving your account open for the next user.
    Time: ~15 minutes
    Task: Open your {{code:Digital_Portfolio}} folder and create a new document called {{code:08_cloud_skills_check}}. Record one short observation for each of the six cloud skills you just practised on your own portfolio — which account is signed in, that your test file's title bar showed 'Saved' / 'All changes saved', the version history you checked on one file, what you shared and with whom, the clean sign-out, and the sign-back-in confirming access. These are the exact checks you'll run whenever you use a shared computer for your project: a school lab PC, a Work Experience placement machine, or any PC that isn't your own.
    Success criteria:
    • Your {{code:08_cloud_skills_check}} document is saved inside {{code:Digital_Portfolio}} with a short line of notes written against each of the six skills
    • Your test file's title bar shows 'Saved' / 'All changes saved' — no stuck 'Saving...' or 'Uploading' messages anywhere
    • One portfolio file is now shared with a peer in a mode that lets them read it but not change it
    • You signed out fully (the confirmation page appeared) and signed back in to confirm everything is still there
    +15 XP

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    This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.
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