I have been enjoying two great web services that every online Bible college student should know about. The first service is one I would recommend for every college student...period.
Dropbox is free, and I use it every day. It provides two huge benefits:
- It automatically creates an online backup of anything I save to my Dropbox folder. There are two main reasons online students do not backup their work: a) It is a hassle to remember to do and b) It costs money to buy a backup hard drive. Dropbox solves both of those problems. I download a small application that creates a folder called "Dropbox" that resides with all my other folders and documents. Having a backup is a simple matter of saving to that folder. Whenever I am connected to the internet, Dropbox automatically and securely uploads the file to my free space online. Both problems solved: automatic and free!
- It keeps all my current work available to me wherever I am working.
I find that I often need to access the same files from multiple devices. I work with two laptops, an iPad, and a smartphone. And sometimes I am working on a public computer or a family computer. Dropbox allows me to access my files from any of those devices. I know I am a little geeky to use all those devices, but almost every online student has been in the situation where he or she was at work and needed to access a school file. Dropbox makes that a breeze. (Note: Even if you cannot load the application on your work computer, you can use the Dropbox website to access your files.)
Are you ready to get Dropbox so that you can responsibly backup all your schoolwork? If you go to http://www.dropbox.com, you can sign up for an account and get 2 gigabytes of storage for free. Before you do that, let me tell you how you can get another 250 megabytes of additional storage for free—enough space to backup the final project for several online classes. Dropbox uses a referral program. If you go to http://db.tt/ieiICAL to sign up for Dropbox, you will use a referral from me. That will give you an added 250 megabytes of free storage as well as giving me 250 megabytes of additional storage (up to an 8 gigabyte limit). Yes, this benefits me, but it also benefits you…and you can choose to simply go directly to www.dropbox.com if you prefer.
Biblia.com (http://biblia.com) is a web version of Logos Bible Software. Even without purchasing Logos Bible Software, anyone can create a free account and access the free resources available for Bible study. Since all Dallas Christian College students purchase at least the Bible Study Library, that means that almost all the resources available on the computer where Logos is installed are also available on any other computer. Why is this a benefit?
With the advent of Logos Bible Study Software version 4, the software is licensed so specifically to an individual that DCC cannot legally purchase a copy of the software for public/lab computers. Therefore, unless a student has his or her laptop, there is no way to access the Bible study resources on campus (library, tutoring center, classroom, etc.). That is when Biblia.com comes in. Students can go to Biblia.com, log in with Logos credentials, and access the majority of their Logos resources from any computer. Although the web service does not have all the power of the installed software, it does provide search capabilities for specific resources or for the entire licensed library.
In addition to the web service, Logos provides applications for iPads/iPhones/iPod Touch, and the Android version is available in beta. My smartphone is Windows Mobile 6.5, which doesn’t have an application. That is when I am most likely to go to http://biblia.com. That brings up another good point—there is a mobile version of the Biblia.com website designed for a smaller screen.
In other words, you can access your Logos Bible Study software from any place you can get on an internet device!
These are two really useful web services, and they are free. What are you waiting for?
Bruce Long * Associate Dean - Online Learning * Dallas Christian College
