I tweeted this on Tuesday night...
A few hours later I had three replies, all from Melbournians, with multiple suggestions.
These tweachers included @elearnjones @SteveBrophy3 and @adelebrice. Who I thank and encourage you to follow.
They suggested Dropbox, Evernote, GoogleDrive, InstaShare, SendAnywhere and Showbie. All of these options have pros and cons.
DropBox and Evernote- fantastic apps, already using, log in/user email limitations.
I am very familiar with DropBox, Drive and Evernote, and have used them personally to move files off devices. However, they require staff to have accounts which I see a slight negative due to fact our students work with a range of teachers and would need to remember which accounts to send to.
I downloaded the other three apps and compared their features.
InstaShare- Apple lovers delight, AirDrop in an App, Internet not required, Obsolete Soon.
...was my personal favourite, as I am a Mac user and like it when I, and my students, don't have to log into apps. Also, InstaShare allows you to share files between iPads. InstaShare software is currently only available in a beta version on the Mac and iPad. So a negative is that it is not available on PC. Due to our school and staff being made up of multiple platforms InstaShare wasn't the best option for us. However, we will still use the free version of the app as its abaility to share files between iPads is a positive.
One thing to note is that InstaShare will become obsolete as soon as iOS 7 is released, as it is reported to include an AirDrop feature. For the moment it is a useful app as it picks up Macs and iPads on your network, and allows you to send things to them, over Bluetooth or WiFi, with no hassle. Determining internet access isn't needed.
SendAnywhere- simple, clever, works well, not efficient.
... got me really excited. In the Pro Version you can basically share any file in an exceptionally simple way. Without needing to log in you click the file you want to share and the technology you want to share it to. Then you are provided with an on screen message that provides further instructions. If you want to send to a Mac or PC you are given a code and the send-web.com address. You go to the address input the code and download the file. Nice and easy.
A negative about this process is that the code needs to be transferred between student and teacher. Also, the download part isn't as simple as being prompted with an authorise button, as is the case in InstaShare. So you can't process multiple files efficiently.
Showbie- I like what I see, Prettier than Edmodo, Improvements to come, is there a catch?
Reminded me of Edmodo at first but has a much more friendly and accessible user interface. Teachers share a code, to their classes learning space, with students. Students can log in, no email required, enter the space then view or submit files. The biggest positive about this app is that multiple students can share files, to the same teacher, simultaneously and with ease. These files will then be accessible by the teacher when they log into the app.
The negatives include that students need to log in, it is a positive that they don't need emails. Our students share class sets of iPads with other students so logging in and out is a bit of a nuisance. Also, I still have some questions about Showbie in regards to PC and Mac access and pricing.
At the moment we prefer not to set up accounts and with ease of access our choice for sharing files between staff and students is SendAnywhere, with the temporary use of InstaShare between iPads and the possibility of Showbie in the future.
Moral to the story
The edtech community in Victoria is awesome and very helpful! Thanks again to tweachers included in the process @elearnjones @SteveBrophy3 and @adelebrice. Please follow them and also
@elearnjones blog
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