EDUC-422B Learning & Leading with Technology Article Response #2

                                                                                                   Friday, March 14, 2014

Computing in the Clouds

                In “Computing in the Clouds” author Doug Johnson reveals a possible silver lining to the dark storms of budget problems that schools face today and in the future.  That benefit in the budgetary concerns of infusing technology into our schools is the cloud.   More specifically cloud computing which is a metaphor that represents computing that relies on applications and file storage that resides solely on a network, that being either  a local-area network, district network, or the Internet as a whole.

                This article quickly caught my eye as for years I was somewhat adverse to the idea of cloud technologies, most of which had to do with the nature of my job and the inability to access the internet in some of the locations that I worked.  But as I start to learn and use this type of technology more day to day now that I no longer have the before mentioned restrictions I can quickly see the benefits  for education that Johnson expresses in his article.   Take into account some of the advantages listed; because the files and programs used are not stored within the computer, the local computer does not need to hold much on its hard drive, with this freeing up space it can run faster and need and use less memory.  In other words it can be smaller, and more portable.  Furthermore because all information and programs are stored on the web work can be accomplished anywhere, weather in the class room, at home, or somewhere in between on a multitude of different devices.    Another point that Johnson brings up is that unlike most computer based programs that come with a high price tag such as Microsoft Office, Adobe, or Photo Shop, most web based applications offer somewhat robust programs, which are both productive and free. 

                As an educator I pulled from this article that for relatively low cost and high productivity school districts can equip their students with inexpensive computers to access the cloud.  No longer will schools need big work stations, and computer labs or expensive software.   The computers, weather net-books or iPads are interchangeable as it is not the computer which holds the information; it only provides the access to that information.  Also information sharing becomes seamless, with the use of applications such as Google docs.  This I found to be extremely useful as it reinforces some of the current lessons we as educators have learned in EDUC-422A and B.   With that said Johnson also discusses the uses for not only student interaction, with lesson plans, fellow students and teachers, but he also discusses the attributes of having school-specific tasks on the cloud.  This I had not thought of prior to but the ability to put gradebooks, reporting systems, communications and other administrative tools on the cloud seems extremely beneficial.

                With the benefits Johnson also voices some concerns, such as a possible of being charged for these services in the future, as an answer he states that  it is a slim possibility but most companies that provided these service make their revenue in two ways, advertisement and by offering more robust versions of most applications at a subscription cost.   Another concern that I had mentioned before was internet access and or outages, but with the majority of the applications you have the ability to work offline and when the disruption in service is fixed they applications will automatically update themselves.    The last two concerns mentioned are security, and privacy.  As to security to date there have been fewer compromises to cloud type environments than there have been to IT services.  With privacy most applications claim that you own the information and data that you store within their sites.  With that said nothing is either one hundred percent secure or private.

                In the article Johnson does state that there are some hurdles that will need to be overcome.  These include school policies, parent’s acceptance, reliable and adequate and secure wireless infrastructure.  Furthermore and most notable for individual educators is insuring the teachers have the training and resources to implement a forward thinking strategy that is inclusive of these ideas to improve  the students learning and engage them continually in the learning process.

   

                I found this article very insight full and as stated previously found it representative of my own experiences with the cloud.  The ideas set forth in this article will be beneficial to schools, educators and students, expressing an inexpensive way to bring technology into the class room,  most studies show that students use some type of technology or social media up to six hours a day outside school, and on average 15 min a week in school.   I would like to see that become more balanced and productive with schools leading in technology use instead of lagging behind. 

                This article does not directly relate to the NETS-S, but does relate to the following NETS-T.  2 Design and develop digital – age learning experiences and assessments, as the author discusses developing technology-enriched learning environments, and designing and adapting relevant learning experiences, incorporating digital tools and digital resources.  

Johnson D. (2009/10). Computing in the clouds.  Learning & Leading with Technology. 37 (4) , 16-20

http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200912#pg18