Dropbox: Never Lose a File

I consider Dropbox one of the top 3 technologies every 21st Century educator and student should know about.

Dropbox is a online storage service providing you 2GB of free storage. Store your data (documents, photos, videos, music, etc.) in Dropbox’s cloud storage, and it automatically syncs those files across all your other Dropbox enabled devices. Gone are the days of trying to find a document you know you have saved somewhere, but can’t remember which USB flash drive, or computer its on.

This means you can work on a document on your home computer, save it in Dropbox, open the file on your mobile device while your on the go, and when you get to work its in your work computer’s Dropbox folder with all the changes you’ve made. You don’t have to lug around a computer, external hard-drives, or USB flahs drives just to be able to access your files.

Dropbox also makes it simple to collaborate. Sharing  a file is as easy as creating a folder in Dropbox and sharing it with your collaborators. Any document placed in that folder is now accessible to the other people.

If you need more than 2GB of space, you can upgrade to Dropbox’s larger storage plans for an additional cost.

Reasons to use Dropbox

• Free storage – 2GB free storage. This saves space on your computer and your mobile devices. Of course they make it easy for you to pay if you would like more storage above 2GB.
• Automatic Back Ups – If you keep files stored on your computer’s hard drive and it crashes, your files are gone. If you keep your files in Dropbox, they are always backed up and you can get to them from another computer. Storing your files on a physical external hard drive is good, but it is only delaying the eventual hard drive crash…even physical external hard drives crash at some point. Online storage is constantly backed up so your data is always safe and accessible.
• Sharing & Editing – Dropbox makes it easy for you to share your documents with others. This is really handy when you have a large file that can’t attach to an email. With Dropbox, you just send the person a link to the file and they are able to access it.
• Version Control – If your working with a team of people, and they are all making edits, version control is a nice feature if you ever need to rollback to a previous version.
• Mobile  – Files stored in Dropbox are accessible through your smartphone and tablet using the free Dropbox app.
• Sync Across Devices – When you upload, or change a file in Dropbox, the change is sync’d across all your devices.
• Mac and PC Friendly – Works seamlessly on both platforms.