Dropbox: A Superb Classroom Tool
What is Dropbox? It is a multipurpose tool
that has a great impact in education. It can be used to store and sync
documents and files across computers, tablets and smart phones. As an educator,
there are many ways to use Dropbox. It can be used to manage one’s teaching
materials and makes it more accessible. By using Dropbox to store lectures and
other school materials, one can always have access to most recent changes.
Furthermore, many of the applications that
are likely used for example, (Evernote, Things, 1Password and Elements have
Dropbox) Sync option. Granted that Dropbox works across platforms and devices,
any document saved to it, is
synchronized automatically to
one’s home computer, work computer, phone and online at dropbox.com. One can
therefore, use these channels to access all his/her documents.
Dropbox can make teaching/learning a lot
easier. As educators, one needs to create a folder for each class he/she
teaches. Through this tool, information can be made available to students
(PowerPoint presentations, handouts, reading assignments etc). Students can
alter the content because they all have access but cannot delete information
from the dropbox folder permanently, it is recommended to use locked PDF files to
prevent them from making changes to the content of the material.
Using Dropbox in the classroom
Dropbox in the classroom can be used in a
number of ways:
It can store additional copies of hand-outs.
Students can re-download or print copies of the hand-out just in case they
missed a hand-out because of an absence from class or they simply lost it.
Most PowerPoint presentations are simply too
large to be distributed by email. Dropbox provides a solution to this problem
as anyone can have access to it.
It is also a good way for students to turn
in assignments. It is an easy to use electronic homework drop.
Moreso, it helps in managing students
presentations. Students can use it to submit visual components of class
presentation.
As students take notes on their iPads with.
Their notes are automatically saved to Dropbox.
Dropbox promotes learning in that students
always carry academic material (hand-out) with them as they go around with
their cell phones. They can study whenever and wherever they find fit.
Creating Dropbox
It is easy to create a Dropbox. First of all, create a folder, and then go to
Dropbox page on the web, a screen will appear. Put your mouse over the folder
and click on the arrow to the right- a drop- down menu will appear. Then select
“invite to folder”. Impute the emails of your students. This will invite them
to join Dropbox giving all of you 250MB. You can send a personal message with
your invitation to inform them of what you what them to do. Once they have been
invited, this becomes a “shared Folder”.
People who have access to the folder can add files, download, delete and
alter content. However, only the owner can delete or edit the content
permanently. The owner can as well see who made inappropriate changes by
clicking on the folder in the Dropbox and clicking on delete files. For more
information check out this websitehttp://academictech.doit.wisc.edu/help/learnuw-manual/learnuw-dropbox/how-create-dropbox-folder-and-add-restrictions
In conclusion, caution must be taken when
sharing private information since Dropbox can be accessed by many people. For
information about dropbox’s security, check out this link http://www.maclife.com/article/news/dropbox_beta_adds_twofactor_authentication_security
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