Are flash drives irrelevant? Word documents, power points and excel-type spreadsheets are being saved and even written online. In the past, students had to save their work on flash drives to print it later, but are flash drives still necessary in college? Many people choose to use flash drives to save their work, but I am not one of those people. I use Google Drive to save everything, but there are other online applications that are created so people do not need to carry a flash drive with them to save their work. Here are three free online services which allow people to create, save, and transport work without the use of a flash drive.

Google Docs

Google Docs also allows you to create documents, power point presentations, excel spread sheets, cards from templates, and upload files into your computer. Essentially, it is an online Microsoft Office that saves automatically and allows you to upload files.

I create a folder for classes, extra-curricular activities and other sections I use, such as resumes and future planning. It allows me to stay organized and easily find a document.

Senior computer science major Stephen Haywiser uses Google Docs to work on his senior Computer Science project. Haywiser is working with other students who live off-campus, and Google Docs  allows them to work on the same project when they are not in the same room.

“It’s been helpful because it allows us to work on stuff from our own computers wherever they may be,” said Haywire. “I am working with people off campus, and we are not able to meet all the time.”

Google Docs is great for collaborative projects where multiple people might have difficulty meeting in person.

Dropbox 

Senior middle-level education major Annie Hatton uses Dropbox to save files. Dropbox is an online file storing service that allows you to upload and organize files so they can be accessed later. She said she uses it more than any other method of saving files. She has a folder for every single class that she has taken at Gannon and still has some folders from high school.

“I love using Dropbox because it is fool proof and I know I can rely on it. I’ve never had a problem in the past five or six years that I’ve used it, and it definitely helps me to stay organized,” said Hatton. “The best part about Dropbox is that I’ll never forget to bring it somewhere because it’s just a website!”

Evernote

Evernote is a free online cloud service that allows you to take notes and organize them. On the site, you create a notebook that can be used to take notes for classes and meetings.

While I have not extensively used Evernote, I believe I could benefit from it because I have very bad handwriting, and it would allow me to take notes that are easier to read.