Re-modelling your Community in the Clouds

Educators’ Lounge

Following on from the previous post, I wanted to share with you some interesting ways to shape the way you can build your Cloud Storage Community. Enjoy and don't be afraid of experimenting in the classroom.

• Sharing Stored Files

In the early days, some educators probably turned to cloud storage simply because their school's own networking setup lacked such a feature. Anecdotal reports suggest that schools now are sanctioning the use of cloud services like Dropbox. 
In 2012, Dropbox launched a program called Space Race, offering people with an .edu email address an extra 3 GB of storage -- on top of the 2 GB of storage all users get. At this writing, it is not clear if Dropbox will offer Space Race again this year.
Sharing a single file with students can be as easy as emailing over a unique link created for each file or by networking the cloud storage and allowing students easy access.

• Overcoming Email and cross device limitations.

Over-size attachments, such as large PowerPoint files and videos, that never reach their intended recipient because the email program chokes on the file, is a common complaint of email users. Cloud Storage essentially solves this problem by bypassing email. Another useful function is having your Cloud across devices with differing Operating Systems. Linking Android – Apple – PC devices is as easy as dropping a file into you Cloud Storage and syncing everything together. Problem solved

• Setting and Turning in Homework

In its simplest application, Dropbox can be as used a common filing cabinet through which teachers can provide documents, such as homework assignments and handouts, and media files for the entire class. But another popular use goes in the opposite direction, from students to teachers. Using Dropbox as a homework drop has the added benefit of providing, by default, a time-stamp for these submissions. 
Of course, students can share Dropbox folders with each other too, and so collaborate on joint assignments. Happily, the free version of Dropbox saves a history of all deleted and earlier versions of files for 30 days. Paid Dropbox Pro accounts have a feature called Packrat that saves file history indefinitely. 

• Easy back-up and syncing with apps

Quite a number of popular productivity and educational applications now feature a Cloud "sync" option. Evernote, for example, has a "save to Dropbox" option. Other popular education apps with Dropbox integration include: Notability, iThoughtsHD and Ghostwriter Notes. 
A free Cloud storage account can include 2 GB of space. Users can earn more free space in a variety of ways. Also, more storage can be purchased via monthly or annual plans. For institutions needing even more storage, there is Dropbox for Teams, which adds a number of advanced account security and management options, as well as unlimited storage.

• Building communities in the classroom

One of the most important features of Cloud Storage is giving a classroom a sense of ‘Community’, where interaction can be encouraged. Be it downloading, uploading or Facilitating Group Projects.
Some courses require that students work collaboratively on a project. Cloud Storage can help facilitate this process by providing a space in which students can work together. Group folders can be created and accessed in the Public folder (via a web-link to the folder) or a private folder in which each student in that group has personal Access.

• Evaluate Student Portfolios

If you are teaching a course where students submit multiple assignments or portfolios for evaluation, you can create and share a folder for each individual student, and have them submit their work to the folder. Students can have a private portfolio that only you can see if they sign up for Dropbox themselves and create their own folder and share it with you.

[example: See ENGL 211 for a course that uses Dropbox for evaluating student writing portfolios: http://writingaboutlit.community.uaf.edu/how-to-submit-work/]

Author: Nicholas Blunsum