I’m currently teaching secondary Math (grades 8-10) at a Tech Immersion Program in Vancouver and studying part-time at the same time. This course is my 5th MET course (already!) and I’m planning to complete the MET program by April 2013. I use a variety of cloud-based applications as Math courses that I’m presently teaching are Tech […]
Continue reading Deb’s “CLOUD” Bio Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
I am currently taking my 1st, 2nd and 3rd MET courses this semester and have already learned a lot of information relating to delivering and storing information on the web. I use a variety of Cloud services including Google, Gmail, Googledocs, Skype, Facebook, Youtube, the list goes on. My biggest concern about using these services is the privacy […]
Continue reading Cloudy with a chance of technology? Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
I think that cloud computing and wireless student owned devices are the way things are going in education. Budgets just won’t allow for the continuous buying of technology. There are schools that exists now with a room full of VHS machines, TVs, VHS tapes and so one. I have seen computer graveyards and 1000s of feet of wiring in schools that connect to nothing. Older schools, who have been around are likely to have the remnants of many technologies. I think it is going to be going to a student owned device model with the school board helping to provide students who do not have devices with temporary equipment. Equity is a real issue but I have heard anecdotal evidence that even very low SES areas, 90%+ students have wireless devices. Almost every student in any given high school will have a cell phone, most of which are smartphones… I don’t have hard numbers and I would encourage anyone who has some real numbers from real schools to chime in…
I have seen a few schools like that myself, and it was interesting to see how much low-tech e-waste has accumulated in the Vancouver school district (the largest in the province, so it is understandable that when each item was purchased, it was needed) compared to the sleek and slim wireless technology found in North Van’s district. Switching from school-owned technology to student-owned requires less attention to what devices student do or don’t have any devices, and more acknowledging that classrooms can make do with the numerous devices most will bring in. If the class got ’em, use ’em rather than locking them in a cupboard/teacher’s desk until the end of the day. It’s the teacher’s attitude that needs to change, not so much the technology.
Very interesting road ahead. Is there a possibility that those clouds will burst and produce heavy and devastating showers later? Is this a method of control on the part of authorities?
Everton
I base my argument for businesses to get on the cloud bandwagon from an article I read in the Globe and Mail. The article states that there are real benefits for business and workers when people work from home. For example, “…almost 90 per cent of people polled who work from home say it has […]
Continue reading Cloud Benefits – Working from home Posted in: Week 08: Files in the Cloud
My brother has a consulting business in Calgary with an office space that seems to physically use a cloud concept. Hey have a few shared offices, but the meeting spaces, kitchens, bathrooms, secretary are shared with the other companies on that floor. They only use the office sometimes, working from home part of the time. There is something communal about the cloud that obviously provides economies of scale that provide benefits.
Emily
Hi Emily,
So the collaborative applications your brother uses are enough to make him feel like he is truly part of a working community?
Hi Murray and Emily,
I am a huge fan of the cloud as an off-site employee. It makes my day to day life so much easier and the systems become much smoother as a whole. For example, my colleagues find the network in the office to be somewhat slow on large documents that they are working with– this leads them to save a local copy and inevitably forget to upload the new document. With my stuff, I work directly in the cloud instead of having local copies. Cloud forces a bit more seamless a transition.
Emily, the concept that you describe is also known as hoteling (check out this information on hoteling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling_(office) ); I have never heard of it compared to cloud computing, but that is a really interesting parallel.
Kristopher
Interesting. Hoteling is popular in the field of consulting (my work industry) but the cloud isn’t so much because normally the consultant needs to work on the corporate LAN for security reasons. Isn’t it interesting that using cloud computing can be faster than a companies LAN. I wonder if we will get to a critical mass where the cloud computing data transfer speeds will start to degrade as LANs do when there is too much data transfer for the bandwidth available.
Hi Kristopher,
I know what you mean about files being much slower to open and edit on a server. I spent countless hours waiting for my report card documents to load while I was working on them a few years ago. It really ruins your momentum and train of thought. Then I realized that I could just load them on a USB and take them home, much faster. But, as you said, I always need to make sure I remember to upload to latest version to avoid confusion.
some companies I have worked for have a policy against using USB drives. I guess this isn’t a problem in the school system?
I couldn’t speak for all, but it’s A-OK in mine. In a gov’t department like Veterans’ Affairs, they are outright banned.
Hi Julie,
Do they ban USB drives because they think someone will accidentally load a virus or something from their home computer?
@murray12
Thank you for posting that info from the Globe and Mail. I thought I might mash it up a bit:
“…almost 90 per cent of students say it has made them more productive.”
“….schools find it easier to hold on to students until graduation who work in the cloud because those students tend to have more flexibility in their schedules for work and school.”
“….And the fewer computers a school has in the building, the less computer equipment they need to support, repair and pay for.”
These changes I made to the G&M quote are completely fictional but I think it illustrates how cloud computing can have an impact on many levels in schools. I think each of the changes I made would be predictable, reasonable outcomes of widespread cloud based computing in a school district.
Excellent remix of the G&M quotes. It actually sounds better from an educational side than the business side.
Great mash up Jim!
The security issue is a major concern even though there are trusted hosts out there. However, I will be very skeptical about the information I give up for storage. Many persons are of the view that this cloud concept is designed to provide governments better access to what individuals are engaging in. To them, it’s more of a security measure to facilitate global policing.
Everton
Hi Everton,
Do you think it would matter to these people if governments were only monitoring what an IP address is looking at, rather than the monitoring the “person” (name, address, etc.). Or, is their concern that governments are monitoring without permission, period?
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mcquaid 5:19 pm on October 25, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi, Deb, It sounds a bit like you share one of Jim’s main cloud concerns – upload speed. Without good speed in both directions, it becomes less useful.
As you know, some offline programs autosave, too, but, like you, I especially apreciate their autosave features when working with students. I can’t tell you how many times Corel Presentations or PowerPoint have crashed and lost info on kids – a program like Prezi autosaves so often that you almost forget that you ever had to keep saving as you went in mind.
Deb Kim 4:29 pm on October 26, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree with you. Uploading speed for online programs (clouds) is much more appreciated than that for offline programs. I also experienced PowerPoint getting crashed while I was working on the first assignment. I broke out in a cold sweat because I didn’t save any of my work. Good thing is that I didn’t do a lot of work when it got crashed. What a relief!
Deb