Which Web tool would it be?
For me, that tool is Drop.io.
When I ask people if they know what Drop.io is, most people say "yes," but I wonder if they really understand how versatile a tool like Drop.io is. It is virtually the Web's first Swiss Army knife, a multi-functional Web "object" that functions not only as an off-site file drawer, but also as a multi-media player, podcasting host, presenting tool, and virtual flash drive.
A Virtual Flash Drive?
Sometimes when I show kids that they don't need their precious flash drives anymore, you get this sense of depression. They say, "but my flash drive lights up!" I know kids, but the fact is, that flash drives are a relic of the olden days of 2008. This is 2010! There's free space all over the Internet for you to save your stuff. Google Docs even allows you to save any file now. Drop.io is never publicly indexed, so I'm never worried that our stuff will be viewed by outside parties. Of course, as a tech educator, I make sure that I protect student information from the outset. As an administrator of a drop, you can turn off commenting on a drop, turn off uploading after a certain point, and even create a custom look to it. You can create a custom Drop name like Drop.io/ilovedropio or- Drop.io will create a unique drop name for you. Take those flash drives off your neck chain! Drop.io is your flash drive. A Podcasting Platform
One of the things that frustrate teachers who want to create podcasts, is the whole ftp transfer thing. "Do I put it on my own server or is there a free server somewhere else?" Some teachers also aren't given access to server space for fear that it will fill up (ahem). Well, archive.org is an off-shore place to put your stuff, though I feel like archive.org wasn't really created to be a place where people can just save anything, just to archive meaningful Internet history. Maybe that's just me. Yes, each drop only has a 100MB limit, but you can "create as many as you like," and for audio podcasts, I find that one or two drops is usually okay to host our class podcasts. Also, with the "Dropcast" feature of Drop.io, with virtually one click, students or parents can download all of your class podcasts to their iPod. Check out this example: http://drop.io/thefremontstorycorps2A Media Player
One of my favorite aspects of Drop.io is that once a media file (.mov, mp3, or ppt, pdf) is in the drop, you don't really need to download to play. It will play right in the drop, and it will play at full screen! I can't stand when the Internet forces downloads on me, and this saves my hard drive a lot of unnecessary heart ache. This is great for presenting student work because we can get through a lot of presentations in one class period because- they just start playing! And, again, you can download them.
A Media Creator
One of the things that is difficult creating podcasts is having 28 students in a classroom trying to record simultaneously. Group them? Sure. But, I solved that issue with Drop.io. Every drop has it's own unique phone number so that students can call the drop and record a message. This message gets saved as an .mp3 that can be downloaded almost instantly. Our latest project asks students to interview a parent or guardian based on NPRs StoryCorps concept, and this was easily accomplished with Drop.io. We then upload those files to Garageband, do a little editing, add music and introductions, and the final product is pretty nice. You can also email a file to a drop; I once had a student who created her interview by recording it using the voice recorder on her phone. We simply emailed it to a drop so that she could download it. Too easy.
Mass Downloads
One thing I ran into when doing a Google Earth project: in order to collect all of the Google Earth .kmz files from 50 students, I used the "Create Zip Archive" feature. It downloaded all of the files in one folder, which I was then able to mass-upload to Google My Maps to create this map :
https://sites.google.com/site/fremontolympicguide/past-olympics-a-tour
Another problem solved with one click.
Embeds
If you don't want folks to just view media from the Drop.io page, you can easily embed any media into another site. Here's a digital story that was created about Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Backchanneling, Presentations and More
Each drop on Drop.io has a chat function built into it, so you can create a backchannel on any drop without going to another tool. But have you tried Present.io? Present.io is a tool built specifically for doing presentations on the Web. I have never seen it used yet, but basically, you put in all of your presentation files, media, etc, click "go" and share the link to the drop with anyone who you want to see it. There seems to be a 10 user drop in limit, but you can pay for an upgrade. It's a presentation format that you could set up in literally minutes. I would pay for the upgrade just to engage folks in the experience.
An Easy Sell
I'm always asked about what tools I would show a teacher who is adverse to using technology. Drop.io is one of those multi-functional tools that is so easy to use, it engages the user right away, regardless of their tech skills. You want people to adopt your Web solutions? Show them Drop.io. If anything, a teacher will be excited about having a simple solution to storing some files that are easy to get at. Drop.io can be a perfect tool to invite teachers who get frustrated with technology, or who are intimidated by technology in general.
And with that, I say:
Keep your hands off my Drop.io!
One of my favorite aspects of Drop.io is that once a media file (.mov, mp3, or ppt, pdf) is in the drop, you don't really need to download to play. It will play right in the drop, and it will play at full screen! I can't stand when the Internet forces downloads on me, and this saves my hard drive a lot of unnecessary heart ache. This is great for presenting student work because we can get through a lot of presentations in one class period because- they just start playing! And, again, you can download them. A Media Creator
One of the things that is difficult creating podcasts is having 28 students in a classroom trying to record simultaneously. Group them? Sure. But, I solved that issue with Drop.io. Every drop has it's own unique phone number so that students can call the drop and record a message. This message gets saved as an .mp3 that can be downloaded almost instantly. Our latest project asks students to interview a parent or guardian based on NPRs StoryCorps concept, and this was easily accomplished with Drop.io. We then upload those files to Garageband, do a little editing, add music and introductions, and the final product is pretty nice. You can also email a file to a drop; I once had a student who created her interview by recording it using the voice recorder on her phone. We simply emailed it to a drop so that she could download it. Too easy. Mass Downloads
One thing I ran into when doing a Google Earth project: in order to collect all of the Google Earth .kmz files from 50 students, I used the "Create Zip Archive" feature. It downloaded all of the files in one folder, which I was then able to mass-upload to Google My Maps to create this map :https://sites.google.com/site/fremontolympicguide/past-olympics-a-tour
Another problem solved with one click.
Embeds
If you don't want folks to just view media from the Drop.io page, you can easily embed any media into another site. Here's a digital story that was created about Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
Backchanneling, Presentations and More
Each drop on Drop.io has a chat function built into it, so you can create a backchannel on any drop without going to another tool. But have you tried Present.io? Present.io is a tool built specifically for doing presentations on the Web. I have never seen it used yet, but basically, you put in all of your presentation files, media, etc, click "go" and share the link to the drop with anyone who you want to see it. There seems to be a 10 user drop in limit, but you can pay for an upgrade. It's a presentation format that you could set up in literally minutes. I would pay for the upgrade just to engage folks in the experience.
An Easy Sell
I'm always asked about what tools I would show a teacher who is adverse to using technology. Drop.io is one of those multi-functional tools that is so easy to use, it engages the user right away, regardless of their tech skills. You want people to adopt your Web solutions? Show them Drop.io. If anything, a teacher will be excited about having a simple solution to storing some files that are easy to get at. Drop.io can be a perfect tool to invite teachers who get frustrated with technology, or who are intimidated by technology in general.
And with that, I say:
Keep your hands off my Drop.io!
