This week I am featuring drop.io a website that describes itself as "Simple real-time sharing, collaboration, and presentation". Here's how they put it:
About drop.io
This morning I tried it out with a handful of students. I asked them to answer the question "What is your least favorite school rule? How would you change that rule and why?" Some students used our new netbooks to make a short video in movie maker using the built in webcam and then uploaded it to the "drop". Others used their cell phones to call in and record their response. And one student took photographs with her cell phone of the other students using drop.io and emailed them to the drop.io site from her phone.
I created the drop, asked the question and KA-POW! the drop was suddenly filled with multiple means of expression (a UDL concept) to the same question. I could have just as easily asked for a written response uploaded from a doc, e-mailed from a phone, or written as a "note". Or we could have used the chat or set up a conference call. And now drop.io has integration with facebook and twitter as well.
Best of all there are numerous ways to handle permissions, editing, and privacy.
The potential for classroom use is enormous. Students could submit assignments, do collaborative bookmarking, contribute class notes, add photo submissions with commenting, make video responses, or create a podcast. Student's don't have to be given permission to view the drop by using the e-mail and phone options, so teachers can screen submissions and then use "hidden" links and embedding on a class website or moodle page for sharing.
