Software,+Programs,+&+Applications

Software, Programs & Applications =1. Dropbox =  Cost: $9.99 per account/ monthly or $99 a year.  ﻿(50 GB account)

**What is Dropbox?** Dropbox.com is a free software tool that allows you to sync your files online and across multiple computers automatically. It also has capabilities for sharing files and folders with multiple users, allowing several people to work collaboratively on the same files.

**How Can Dropbox be used at BCS?** There are many ways BCS can use Dropbox.com. Here are a few examples.

**//Teachers and administrators can access all school-related files on multiple computers.//** Most of us have multiple computers that we work with from work desktops to home desktops to laptops…and more. It can get a little bit cumbersome carrying flash drives around everywhere, or emailing documents back and forth to yourself. Many files, when using this method, can get lost in the shuffle. Dropbox helps keep all your files located in one central location and can be accessed from any computer with a download of the software. Because all the files are stored on the Dropbox server, the cloud so to speak, you will never lose files if one of your computers is lost, stolen, or damaged.  Specifically, Dropbox has all the functionality of the current public folder. The difference is that now teachers, administrators, students, and even families could **securely** access files without the constraints of being inside the school building.

**Teachers and administrators can also share documents that outline events, calendars, and so forth with others.** // How often do families call the office to inquire about school events? Yes, all the time! And if an efficient system of communication (between the office staff and everyone else) is not in place then, oftentimes, the office staff answering phones is stumped. This same frustration is commonplace and shared by staffs and families across the Nation. To remedy this anti-customer service nuisance, just have the office staff share a Dropbox folder with the rest of the staff. Now anytime a staff member sends out a calendar or flyer that particular document is also placed in the office staff’s shared folder. Now the questions have answers. //

 **//Teachers and administrators can collectively develop, and access, files like common assessments, documentation, and so forth.//** //Over the past few years, there has been a big push for teachers to work collectively on lesson planning, assessment development, and other classroom activities. These are especially vital structures for the learning community concept, the whole “we are smarter than me” mentality. One of the problems though is the lack of time for teachers to come together face-to-face and collaborate. With Dropbox’s file-sharing capabilities, two or more people can work on one or documents from their own computers (and on their own time is they so choose). //

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Let’s say for example Teacher A and Teacher B are creating an assessment that will be given to each of their students. Of course, they each want to try their own distinct strategies and come together in the end to see which strategy, **based on the results**, was most effective. Teacher A can start the assessment within a Dropbox shared folder and then Teacher B can revise the assessment within that same folder. This process can go back and forth until the document is sound.

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Administrators too can use Dropbox. For example, administrators need to be on the same page when documenting employees, making effective use of progressive discipline. This can be tough sometimes with the day-to-day grind of leadership. Here is a solution: Just add a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to a shared folder in Dropbox, a document that is easily accessed and up-to-date and at your fingertips. Here is an example. Let’s say Administrator A observes a teacher late to a staff meeting and he or she adds it to the spreadsheet. Then two weeks later Administrator B notices the same behavior for that particular teacher, documenting it in the shared spreadsheet, seeing that this same behavior was addressed two weeks prior. It is time for the second step in progressive discipline. It is as easy as that…1-2-3. <span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Teachers and administrators can use it to share data, lesson plans, and more.** <span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">// Using Dropbox would eliminate the need to send documents such as lesson plans and data spreadsheets in a less secure fashion, which is currently being done, through email. Teachers could now create a "Lesson Plan" folder, or a "Data" folder and administrators would have access to this information in real time, on any computer. // <span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"> <span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers are encouraged to make informed decisions and revise lesson plans regularly however, using the current method of information sharing, it becomes nearly impossible to document these revision in writing. With Dropbox teachers can update their lesson plans and data daily. Administrators would be notified through Dropbox of any changes teachers made to their documents. This allows administrators to see not only what teachers are doing daily but WHY they made the decision they made. <span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">With the emphasis on "Data Based Instruction," Dropbox provides a secure place to host information. For example, this year as we tried the free version of Dropbox. Teachers were able to save their data to a Dropbox folder which was shared with administration and coaches. The coaches were then able to take that data, analyze it, and compile it into a spreadsheet containing school-wide data. Teachers were then in turn able to view and use this information to inform their instructional decisions. Because this is all happening in "real-time" data collection truly becomes a useful tool for teachers!

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Another way we used Dropbox this year that proved to save a significant amount of money was through the sharing of professional resources. Almost all books, texts, professional resources are now available in digital format. Rather then purchasing a "hard copy" that would be kept in the "Specialist Room" and then checked out by a teacher as needed, I was able to purchase a digital copy, put it in our shared Dropbox folder, and then all teachers had access to the information at any time. Dropbox gives us the ability to create a digital library.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">**//A Dropbox Presentation://**

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=<span style="font-size: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Google Apps ** = Cost: FREE



<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">**//Google Apps In New York://** <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">On Tuesday, October 5, 2010, New York announced its deciosn to adopt Google apps in its public schools. This made New York the fifth state in the US to adopt the free version of Google's online email and collaboration software to be used in K-12 classrooms.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Please see the article in TOPNEWS for more information.

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 25px; line-height: 37px;">4. Engrade = Cost: FREE @http://engrade.com



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= **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">. EdU2.0 = Cost: $19.95 monthly or $225 annually

@http://www.edu20.com/