Newly Ancient

Of all the amazing social media tools in the world, one of my absolute favorites is drop.io. They provide a dead-simple way to share media, but also realize that there is so much more to that than simply sharing files. Not only is it easy to share files, voice and communication can be shared in the exact same interface. Essentially, drop.io supports a plethora of outputs and inputs without complicating things. Drop.io realizes that the point of technology is to make complicated things (like sending a message across the globe in seconds) easy (with the click of a button). Drop.io provides an excellent service with a minimum of effort and cost.¹

Given this unique set of features, drop.io is perfectly suited for use in the educational market. The base service is free, so there is no need to purchase additional hardware or software. Additionally, there is no need to register for an account at all – thus, no emails needed. Finally, drop.io is by nature non-permanent and private – drops are erased after 1 year of disuse and will never be monitored or searchable (unless you ask them to be). For this minimum of effort, a lot is accomplished. You can upload any kind of media, whether through the web interface, email, a Firefox extension, or even your phone.² This media can then be shared through email, RSS, iTunes (dropcast), SMS, Twitter, Facebook, or the plain old web interface. In short, drop.io provides a plethora of ways to share educational content freely.

Once you have mastered the basics of drop.io, you begin to realize its potential. One of the best applications is giving students a way to easily record a podcast without any additional hardware. Though there are other ways to do this, I believe drop.io does it the best as you will shortly see.

First, you need to create a new drop. This drop shouldn’t include any media, but a unique name will help you to remember it. The name can be changed by clicking it. If you would like to block outside access, just click the “additional settings” dropdown and adjust settings accordingly. Once your settings are confirmed, just “drop it.”

Right: You should definitely set an admin password, as it will let you make changes later.

Once you have a drop ready to go, copy down the voicemail address (it is in the top right corner, under “Contact this Drop”). If you give this number a call, you are prompted to enter the extension of your drop and are then taken to a recording section where you can immediately leave a message. Seconds later it will show up in the web interface as an mp3 file.

Right: Just call the listed email to record a voicemail, like I did with this sample drop.

After your content is recorded, it is easy to syndicate it out through other services – like RSS or Twitter. Since this is a podcast, syndication through iTunes is the best method. To do so, just click share, then RSS/Dropcast, then subscribe to Dropcast. iTunes will open up and you will have a simple podcast which can automatically be updated from your phone.³

As you can see, drop.io offers a great way to podcast with your students – all you need is a phone. As helpful as this is, it is only scratching the surface of what drop.io can do. What else can you think of using a ubiquitious sharing service like drop.io for?⁴