Have you ever purchased a game on Teachers Pay Teachers that uses PowerPoint? You’re so excited to play it with your students! You download the game, enter in slide view but something about the game doesn’t seem right. Thought there was supposed to be sound? Or animation? Why isn’t it working?
That happened to me with one of MY OWN games! I was so excited to show my students the first interactive PowerPoint game I made for them. I created the game at home on my computer, but when I got to school none of the sounds worked! I almost cried! The hours of work I put into creating the game felt wasted.
But I’ve learned that where there’s a will, there’s a way…
How to Use Microsoft Office in Dropbox
Dropbox is free online storage system. With your account, you receive 2 GB free of storage. You can purchase additional storage if necessary. Once you’ve created your account, you will be prompted to download Dropbox onto your computer. You don’t have to do this, but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. I run Dropbox on both my home computer and school computer. It allows me to share files from home to school without the use of the flash drive. No more worrying about losing or forgetting a flash drive ever again!
Once you’ve logged in, you’ll see this screen. You can simply drag and drop files into your Dropbox account. Save the PowerPoint game you want to use to your Dropbox folder
Now find the PowerPoint file you want to open. Click on it ONCE. If you double-click, it will open using whatever version of PowerPoint is on your computer. ONE click is all you need.
Now that you’ve clicked once, you’ll see the file appear in the screen like this. You’re almost done!
Look in the upper right hand corner. See where it says open? Click on it, then click on Microsoft PowerPoint Online. Dropbox and Office have partnered so that you can use their online version through Dropbox. I know, amazing, right?
We’re almost done! Click on View and select Slide Show! Your PowerPoint should enter into Slideshow view and you should be set unless…
Depending on your browser, you may have one final hurdle. Some browsers see the SlideShow as a Pop-Up. I use Chrome, which automatically blocks Pop-Ups in its browser. Other browsers will ask permission for the Pop-Ups. You need to allow the Pop-Up. If you’re in Chrome, go to the menu at the top, click on Chrome, Preferences, Settings, Content Settings, Pop-Ups, and Manage Exceptions. Copy and paste the URL of the slideshow into the box under Hostname pattern. Click Done, then go back the PowerPoint page. You should be good to play! (If this all seems to complicated, simply try another browser like Firefox!)
Please note – you must always access the files from Dropbox via the web, instead of your computer for this to work! Hope this helps you! Let me know one of your favorite tech workarounds!
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