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Share files with you SME using Dropbox

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Okay, this post really will be short and sweet. This is a tip that I learned very recently while collaborating with a SME. Like many or (hopefully) all of you have already done, this SME signed up for an account with dropbox. She downloaded the program onto her work computer and promptly began loading up important documents for the class we are working on together into one of her folders. Then she emailed me and gave me her username and password so that I could access the files.

I promptly emailed her back and told her that it would probably be best if she never disseminated that information to anyone. Instead I gave her instructions on how she can simply "share" her folder with me so that I could have access. It is incredibly easy to share dropbox folders, and it is much more preferable than emailing back and forth all the time. This also ensures that as long as she makes changes to the file that is in the dropbox folder, then I will have access to the latest documents so that she doesn't have to email them to me, forcing me to adopt some elaborate scheme to sort through all the revised versions. So in essence it is the same principle as google docs. Anyway here is how to tackle the process of sharing dropbox folders:


The first step is to open up your dropbox folder. Right click on the file that you want to share, and click: dropbox >> share this folder...

 

Click that will bring up a dropbox page in your web browser. You will be able to specify your SME's email address and write a message (optional). On your end, it is as simple as that. On the other end, the SME will get an email that reads:

Sean wants to share some files with you using Dropbox. Message from Sean:

"Hi SME, can you access this dropbox folder for your course. Please put any documentation related to your course development in there. You also have access to some of the useful course development documentation, such as bloom's taxonomy and the course map template."

View "whatever the folder is called"

Enjoy!
- The Dropbox Team

When the SME clicks on that link (go ahead, click the link up there), s/he will log onto the online dropbox and will have access to all the files. This will be a browser view, and both parties now will be able to upload, download, and view the shared documents. Better yet, if you open your own dropbox (I always access this by double clicking the little icon in the system tray), then the folder will appear among your other dropbox folders. In fact, this folder will now appear on both ends and will sync just as any other folder does. That is, when you upload a file, the SME will see it. If s/he uploads, changes, or deletes a file, then it will affect your folder.

Anyway, I think this is a great way to collaborate with our people without clutter from constantly emailing back and forth, and without losing people with the google docs approach (which is just so easy, but it's as if people intentionally try their hardest not to understand it).

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