Making “Handy Drives” Obsolete with DropBox

Dropbox is new feature here on my blog, and for good reason. It’s an incredibly useful app for moving files between computers, or keeping a copy of your most important files in the cloud. However, that isn’t all Dropbox is great for; it is also great for helping students keep their files as mobile as they are. There is a myriad of reasons why every student should have Dropbox in their arsenal of study tools. It's like have a free 2 gig handy drive with you 24/7 anywhere in the world.

1. Switch Between Computers With Ease

One of the primary reasons students need laptops at school is for the sake of portability. However, with Dropbox, you could be stuck with a desktop and still be able to access your work from anywhere. I own a laptop and a notebook, so anytime I’m working on a project or an article, I drop the associated files into my Dropbox, and after it syncs, it’ll be online and ready for me to use on any other computer.

One of the most convenient features of Dropbox is that you can access your files not only from the Dropboxes synced with your account, but also from Dropbox’s websites. That means you can access your files from any computer, even rental laptops at school. You won’t have to remember to bring along an USB stick (Handy drive) ever again.

For even more convenience, you can use a syncing utility like SyncBackSE, and schedule it to run every night, syncing Dropbox with any folder on the computer containing your homework. Then, you can be sure that you’ll always have the most updated version of your essays and notes the next morning or power point presentations for class.

2. Scanned to File:

The best place to keep large files is Dropbox. I have scanned several large files that cannot be e-mailed through the University squirrel mail system of even storage there. But with Dropbox I have the quick link e-mail request to Dropbox and it is just that EZ. Even my wife who is not a technical person loves Dropbox. She is very happy not ‘losing” her handy drive anymore.

3. Be Smarter About Collaborating On Projects

Until now, Google Docs was one of the go-to tools for collaborating on projects. Unfortunately though, you need to have a Gmail account in order to utilize the sharing and editing prowesses of Google Docs to their full potential. Nowadays, that might not be too hefty of a requirement, but it does mean that the adamant Yahoo and Hotmail users are out of luck, unless they wanted a completely new email account.

Luckily for them, Dropbox doesn’t require so extensive a commitment to use its features. Although those who you want to share folders with will have to sign up for an account before they can access the files, the sign up process is quick and relatively painless. If you really don’t want to deal with sign-ups though, each file in the Public folder has a link associated with it that you can share with anyone you’d like.

The best part about Dropbox as a collaborative tool is that two people can edit the same file simultaneously. In that situation, Dropbox saves two distinct copies of the same files, each with a person’s edits to ensure that both edits are preserved. Further, there is no need to have endless email chains back and forth in order to keep each other updated on the latest going-ons of the project. With Dropbox, all that your collaborators need to do is just open up the Dropbox folder, and pull out the most recent version of the file.

Educational Applications:

I have introduced this wonder research tool to all my classmates in batch 9 and 10 at Chulalongkorn University and they love it…at least the techno bunch. I have created shared files in each class and invited my group members to sign up with Dropbox and use my shared folders. I keep e-books, articles and other class project stuff in one handy file in the cloud.

For English language learners Dropbox is universal with Google Translator. Keeping all your assignments and homework in one location except when it comes to the excuse…I left my homework/ handy drive/ computer at home…

I hope I have given my students and fellow teachers a few more (hopefully) compelling reasons to use Dropbox. Personally, Dropbox has made switching between my laptop and notepad a lot less painful than it otherwise would have been. . Perhaps you’ll find it will do the same for you.This is also a very nice feature to use with Firefox and Zotero. I am so happy! So, give it a try at Dropbox. https://www.dropbox.com/