The Internet has become a more widely available resource in school districts nationwide. The use of the Web has created a new era of access to information never experienced in the history of mankind. This access also extends to the classroom. Students can now rely on assignment information posted to school portals, email their teachers, turn in assignments over the Web, research essays, projects and more. The Web is reshaping the way students interact with their teachers and the way learning occurs. Applications that live in the cloud, with documents protected and always available, can save your district valuable time, money and resources while extending learning time outside the classroom and improving students’ skills for the future. Before we discuss the benefits of cloud computing, let me provide a definition.
What’s Cloud computing?
Wikipedia says, “Cloud computing is location-independent computing, whereby shared servers provide resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand, as with the electricity grid.”1 What does that mean? To Wikipedia’s contributors’ credit, the notes on the page indicate that the definition is chalk full of unclear and confusing buzzwords. So, let’s try a different description.
Cloud computing is a metaphoric way of describing the storage of data and applications on massive server computers anywhere in the world, that over the Internet provide you access to your data and applications. If you have a computer with a browser hooked to the Internet, you can do your work and access your documents anytime and anywhere. Now let’s talk about how this can benefit use of school resources, student learning and your teachers’ ability to teach and guide learning.
- Save on install and set-up time.
I’m sure every instructional technology specialist, resource teacher, technology coordinator or media specialist will agree that installing new software and updates on computers takes a big chunk of time. Oftentimes, those installing software on the schools’ computers have to go from computer-to-computer, running the installation disk individually each time. Even with network installs it is a time consuming process to bring up new software.
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One of the big advantages of cloud computing, for those responsible for maintaining instructional computers, is that cloud computing makes installation obsolete. Since there’s nothing to download and install on each computer, you’ll be able to deploy new applications while saving time and resources. This also gets the instructional resource in the hands of the teacher and student more quickly.
_ - Save time while staying current.
Application and data delivered through cloud computing are generally updated more frequently than desktop applications and those updates are automatically downloaded to your computers or provided to you as part of the subscription service, without additional cost. This gives your teachers and students immediate access to the latest tools, data and information._
With Webspiration Classroom, we’re consistently deploying updates to add additional functionality and resources to improve your teachers and students’ ability to teach and learn more through visual learning, outlining, collaboration and peer review. With your subscription to Webspiration Classroom, your school will never need an edition upgrade; you’ll always have the most current version as we update your subscription live. Also, with the Webspiration Classroom service, data storage for documents is complementary, so as your students and teachers use the service more you will never have to purchase servers to support additional document storage needs.
_ - Save on classroom supplies and gain precious minutes of instructional time.
As instructional time has gotten shorter and subject material that must be covered has become more extensive, teachers are constantly looking for ways to increase instructional time. One way to do that is by reducing time spent on classroom management. When students are working on a classroom assignment and turning it in before the period ends, precious time is often spent waiting for documents to print and be turned in. In addition, we know that printer paper and ink cartridges are expensive and teachers are often forced to focus on optimizing the use of these resources. With Webspiration Classroom, students can complete work in class and turn in assignments directly to their teacher online. This saves time spent collecting assignments, helps save a few trees and provides savings on supplies.
_ - Extend learning time with support for homework all in a safe online environment.
With applications that live in the cloud, students and teachers have 24-hour access, 7 days a week, to their documents, assignments, and application anywhere they have a computer and the Internet. With Webspiration Classroom’s student and teacher accounts, homework and group projects can be worked on, reviewed, and completed, all online. Students can even turn in completed homework using the Submit Assignment function. This sends the teacher a final copy of the students’ work, and time and date stamps it so that teachers have a record of when and who has turned in their work. Teachers can also grade, give feedback and return assignments online. Students and teachers can ask questions and have online discussions about the work using Webspiration Classroom’s Chat and Comment functions. And with Webspiration Classroom, all of this is accomplished without the need for email accounts, so students can utilize the Internet while working in a safe, protected environment. Imagine the possibilities to support student learning and teacher-student interaction.
_ - Prepare students for the future.
The Internet or something like it is here to stay. It will continue to transform the way we work with others, discover information, and learn. Your students will find themselves in colleges and careers that expect that they know how to communicate, collaborate and work online. With Webspiration Classroom and similar cloud computing applications, you are preparing them for their future.
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So look up to the clouds of cloud computing to discover the learning tools of the future that will propel learning forward. How is your school looking to the cloud?
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week!
Mona Westhaver
President and Co-founder, Inspiration Software
- “Cloud Computing.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing>. [↩]
