Copy - Alternative to Dropbox

I use the free version of Dropbox to backup some of my files and give myself access to important documents from any of my computers. It's a great deal, but I frequently have to move files to keep under my 9.5 GB space limit. A new account on Dropbox starts with 2 GB of storage. I also use Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive, which offer similar features and a little more space.

If you aren't familiar with how these services work, the simple version is that they duplicate any file you add to them across all your devices plus their website. There are also additional features which make sharing files with others easy.

Dropbox also has integration with Moodle 2.x, which makes it very useful for adding files to your online class.

A new alternative to Dropbox/Google Drive/SkyDrive is Copy, which offers 15GB for free to start but will also add 5GB through a referral link like this one. So if you sign up for Copy, you get an additional 5GB and so do I. Copy works with MacOS, Windows, Linux, Android and iOS, so you can access your files from just about any device. The advantage with Copy is that it has all the necessary features, but gives you more space right at the start. If you sign up through the referral link, you will have 20GB to start with and then you can refer others and gain an additional 5GB for each referral.

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Blackboard Podcasts

I've been searching for podcasts about Blackboard and have come across a few. Some are too site-specific while others could use a little more polish before I would recommend them to others. However, one podcast I did find to be useful and high quality is Teaching with Blackboard by Jason Rhode at Northern Illinois University. Episode 5, posted last week, discusses how to incorporate RSS feeds into Blackboard using Feed2JS , a website and tool for converting an RSS feed to JavaScript which can be copied and pasted into your Blackboard course. This gives you a relatively easy way to add dynamic content to a course. For many instructors, RSS may be a foreign language, but I think if you listen to the five minute podcast, you will learn enough to get the idea. If you want more, Jason's previous podcast covers RSS and podcasting in more detail.

QuickSource Guides to Blackboard

The Resource Network in Harrisonburg, Virginia, publishes fold out guides to various software applications like MS Office, WordPerfect, Adobe Acrobat and more. They have student and instructor guides to BlackBoard for $4.00 each. Prices are lower if you buy in bulk. I got mine yesterday and they look nice and are easy to read. Each one covers the important things you need to know to use Blackboard as a student or instructor. They are also available through Amazon.com for $4.95 each.

Tracking in Moodle forums

Tracking is a feature in Moodle forums which will highlight unread forum messages so you can easily see what is new to you. You can turn tracking on and off for individual forums, but in order to use it, you must first turn it on in your profile. Instructors have the option of turning tracking on or off or making it optional for each forum they create in a course. This means if your instructor turns off tracking, you won't be able to track posts in a forum. The default setting is optional, so each student can decide whether or not to track posts. If you turn on tracking for a forum and you are also subscribed to that forum (receiving copies of posts via email), you will notice that posts you've been emailed will be marked as read once you return to the forum in Moodle. There is no communication between the email message and Moodle –– as long as you are sent the post via email, Moodle will mark it as read. If you aren't going to read forum posts via email, you may want to tu...

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