Integrating File Sharing Across Devices

So, as I continuously collect digitally based content for both my own research (18th Century colonial American military, social, and material culture), and my ever expanding History Education curriculum and lesson planning resources, I decided that it had become too unwieldy to continue to keep transferring documents and the like from my desktop to my thumb drive, and then to my laptop and vice versa.  I went looking for an alternative solution that would allow me to synchronize the files and folders, and add new content across the devices. I also added an iPhone to the mix, not that I would negotiate any files per se on it, but I find myself increasingly using it as a camera to document stuff, so it needs to be included.

I did a cursory internet search  and came up with the a bunch options: iCloud, SkyDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox  garnered the most web attention. I gave them a glance. Each had their pros and cons, but overall they seemed similar. I then proceeded to  search out reviews of each on the techie sites.  They were all cloud based, meaning that they would create a copy of your files on a server of their hosting that you could access from any internet connected device, in addition to creating an additional folder on your own devices where the new synced files would reside. I then posted up a request of my techie friends on Facebook to give me some input. Their responses were similar to the web reviews.

As I looked more in depth at each I was surprised to find that iCloud had some limitations on the file types and functionality, SkyDrive, while having the most functionality, was adverse to firearms (how can you study military history without them?), and apparently searched your private data with a security program that would identify that content. That narrowed it down to Google Drive and Dropbox. After looking harder at Google, I realized that I had existing files already saved there, and a plethora of ebooks (can you say 18th century primary source documents!) so I opted to try it out.

 Downloading was easy across devices, and as soon as I added a file to the Google Drive folder it immediately synced up the other devices and the folder at the website. In the coming days I plan to add more content and organize my files and folders better, and this will definitely make it easier and faster. There is also apparently an app that allows Microsoft Office content to be automatically synced as well, but I haven't figured that out yet.

So, I believe that I've found a useful tech tool to help me organize and manage my data better and that will infinitely make lesson planning easier because now I'll have access to all my files across devices and won't have to constantly keep looking for and rediscovering stuff that I figured  would be great for a lesson but couldn't remember where I saved it.

All good.

Interactivity #2

"If a picture is worth a thousand words, then surely those words can open a window to the past."

Interactivity #1

My three top picks for communications technologies would be:

1.      The computer with access to e-mail and social networking.

2.      The cell phone and by extension the smartphone.

3.      The radio.

I think Olivia’s Story typifies the ease, proficiency, and adaptability of kids today with their use of technology. Her lack of ownership of a computer did not preclude her from her ability to navigate through the web and create websites. Her phone and iPod also became extensions of her personality and are indispensable and inseparable additions to her life. So it is with most students and younger adults today. Growing up in the age before computers and mobile devices, I first found them not necessary for my daily work life, but as business and the military moved to use these technologies, I was “forced” to adapt to them. Today I find my use of the computer and smartphone to be regular and important aspects of my daily routine. The availability of the internet for use in research and social media communication whether by smartphone or computer are now second nature. E-mail delivers almost all my important professional and personal correspondence.  

Our students are probably more immersed in the technology than their constant and continual use reveal. Almost all their social and academic activities are technology based or driven. I think we as educators, need to develop learning strategies that build upon our students familiarity and dependence with the current technologies and foster inquiry into emerging methods and technologies that build upon that base. As a social studies teacher, the ease at which I can find and provide primary source documents and media to use in my lessons, and my students familiarity in researching and finding their own information will increase their content exposure. I know for my own research and learning purposes the ease in which I can access virtually any topic through the internet via the computer or smartphone has been an unbelievable resource. Access to the vast number of collections that are now digitized used to take hours and days of travel and often great expense, are now literally at our fingertips. Our students have grown up with this technology, and it appears second nature to them.

All the benefit does not come without its shortcomings. The sheer volume of information out there often makes it hard to focus on the important topics, and the validity of the information itself is often suspect due to the ease in which anyone can publish a website. Another is the amount of time we all spend on frivolity that could better be spent focused on required topics. I myself am guilty of checking in on Facebook or any number of internet forums for interesting threads, or checking e-mail for new info, when I should be focusing on a lesson or something equally important. I think we all need to look to ways to make our technology based times more qualitative and less time consuming, and I think that as educators, we’ll need to find ways to direct that in our classrooms.