Living in the Cloud
I am taking my 7th MET course currently and plan to complete the program by August 2012 (fingers crossed). I have enjoyed the cloud applications despite the concerns about privacy and security. I worry about their use for students, especially younger students, but personally I don’t post anything that I consider private or threatening to my identity (hope I am not proved wrong!). I currently use Evernote, Google Docs, DropBox, Slideshare, YouTube (I have uploaded several videos for MET), Animoto, Prezi, LinkedIn, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter – which I consider all “out there” in the cloud.
Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
bcourey 2:10 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
One thing I forgot to add: Just a few years ago, I heard Will Richardson speak for the first time at a technology conference and he stated that if someone threw his laptop over a bridge, he would not be the slightest bit concerned because everything he created was in the cloud. That changed my thinking forever!
Deb Giesbrecht 12:38 pm on October 26, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting thought….if we are not concerned about privacy we are concerned about someone stealing/or loosing our laptops! I think he makes a valid point that all information he currently has is stored else where – hence a much lesser fear of loosing information.
mcquaid 2:22 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Brenda, I think you illustrate one of the biggest cons and one of the biggest pros of cloud computing: the security of not losing your files to a local disaster (fire, flood, toddler, etc.), but the anxiety of not having your files on your own machine. It’s a rather abstract thought, isn’t it? We can’t touch our files, either way, but, for some reason, we feel that they’re more in our possession when they’re just on a device or two at home or work, and somehow safer.
You mention your apprehension in using cloud-based programs with younger students. What are your specific, key concerns for them?
bcourey 2:27 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
First the concern is about personal information that might be posted (eg Addresses, full name, phone number) when students haven’t had enough training about the dangers. Secondly, are they more vulnerable to predators if they are in the cloud as opposed to a closed server system? I do know that in our board, we are not allowed to use cloud applications if any information is confidential – the term “Homeland Security” aka US servers is bantered about our office regularly!
mcquaid 2:44 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Perhaps part of the problem with cloud computing is not so much that people are using it, but how they have to use it (forced to give personal info – a phone number, for example), or how they use it (Internet savvy / skills & “online smarts”). If developers could address this more, maybe it would be safer to work in the cloud, and people would also have fewer anxieties about it.
As a side note, any time someone mentions “Homeland Security”, I always think of this:
http://2media.nowpublic.net/images//21/08/2108e4e5c1b27b7f04d26b49e35e697d.jpg
Jim 3:49 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Here are a few other privacy related articles that talk about the implications to Canadians (or anyone really) of the Patriot Act in the USA:
http://www.tonybates.ca/2011/03/25/cloud-based-educational-technology-and-privacy-a-canadian-perspective/
and
http://www.tonybates.ca/2010/03/05/can-web-2-0-tools-be-legally-used-for-education-in-canada/
jarvise 4:19 pm on October 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
OK – this calls for a video clip:
http://youtu.be/Guwvwp0uSU8 (from the movie Zoolander)
I’m using most of the same applications as Brenda (although still a facebook holdout – but have started on google+). I have also been using google docs exclusively for all of my word processing for the past couple of years. I don’t save anything on my computer anymore. My husband has recently become obsessed with icloud, and buys online comics from comixology. He has expressed concern that when you buy comics there, they are cloud stored, so he is worried that if they go out of business he wouldn’t have them anymore. I’m just glad he’s not piling up books anymore. I love the cloud. I trust the cloud. I encourage students to use the cloud. I am a cloud advocate.
Emily
jenaca 5:26 am on October 25, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Brenda, thanks for that information on Will Richardson, it’s amazing to think how much information we actually have in the “cloud”
Jenaca
Deb Kim 11:24 am on October 25, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Brenda,
Google Doc was great help when we did our group assignment, wasn’t it? 🙂
I haven’t used Evernote and DropBox, but it seems like they are becoming more widely used these days. I’ve seen my students using the DropBox to save their work as they tend to lose track of their work whenever they save it in the school server. For my students, these cloud apps are usually for personal use (as far as I’m concerned) so privacy and security are not huge issues that occur to me (though I’m a little worried). The apps also allow us to select whether we want to make our work public or private, so we can decide if we want to share our items and it assuages our concerns regarding security and privacy.
Deb