Assignment 5--Drop.io

The Drop.io assignment was probably my least favorite assignment so far this semester. It wasn't that it was incredibly difficult, but compared to the other innovative assignments we have had; it seemed antiquated.

I could see drop.io being used more in a K12 reading or English course to allow students to listen back to reports they have written. Through doing this they would be able to determine whether or not they flowed and determine if they express a complete thought. Through my research on podcasting for the research paper I am preparing for this class; I read an article about an elementary and middle school English teacher who had used podcasting this way. Since students were recorded they were more mindful of the effort put forth in the reports, and spent more time perfecting their work. Drop.io would make this process much easier and require less equipment than a podcast, but have the same results. Through the use of drop.io students would not only work on writing skills, but reading skills as well. Classmates could still listen to the report and post comments for their peers too.

The process I used to create the drop.io for this assignment was I began by outlining what I wanted to say. Initially I had tried to do the recording off the cuff and I kept making mistakes. Then I typed out a script to read for the recording. Through doing this I found I didn't stumble over my words and my voice could be heard more clearly. This also helped the flow of the topic I was speaking on, and gave me better control of the subject I wanted to discuss.

Using the drop.io site was relatively seamless and easy to use. The only problems I encountered were things such as the telephone ringing, or me making a mistake in what I said. Something I didn't realize until I received Dr. Yuen's feedback is you can rename each drop a more meaningful name. This does make since and is very beneficial I just did not realize this initially when completing the assignment.

I do believe there are many areas this can be used successfully for students to promote learning, but I do not think this will be something I incorporate in my classes other than showing them the technology.

My drop.io assignment can be listened to at http://drop.io/apayne1912