The Horizon Report K-12 lists cloud computing as one of the technologies most likely to have a large impact on teaching and learning over the coming year. Partly this is because of the fact that it is saving schools money and resources by providing storage and services to internet users without the need to invest in and support physical machines. As IT coordinator in my previous school a large part of my budget was taken up each year on software, this year I've seen our department spend less than $400 on software. Students have created multimedia, used email, created documents and presentations and started their own blogs/ePortfolios all using a browser. One great advantage we have seen is that students can start working on something at school and continue accessing their work at home. Another advantage has been the collaboration we have seen with the introduction of Google Docs. Our teachers have noticed that we can now be much more flexible than before, as we are not limited by the times students are physically present in the computer lab, and as as result students have become much more creative and have real choices about what they use to show what they know.
Photo Credit: Descending Clouds by Gary Hayes
Good post! The cloud can drastically change the way we teach and learn.
ReplyDeleteOur school has had a similar reduction in the amount spent on software, now that students are able to present their learning in appropriate ways using web tools. We have however begun spending on subscriptions to sites like Edublogs, Toondoo Spaces, Glogster and Voicethread as they provide worthwhile environments for learning. Our teachers are also seeing the value of the students cloud based learning - no more tedious sessions of students watching endless PowerPoint presentations. They can view inquiries via the class blog in their own time, and are able to reflect and comment appropriately.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda,
ReplyDeleteWe have started looking at subscriptions too as well as the education versions of some of these tools such as Glogster. This year we have a subscription for Animoto and we have investigated one for VoiceThread. However most of the time we have found that we have everything we need if each class creates its own log-in to the tools, or if the students log in using their Google Apps for Education accounts. We also publish their work on class blogs and the Grades 4 and 5 students have their own blogs which they use as ePortfolios, so they view and comment on each other's work and they reflect on their own. We still do some class presentations of course - but they look different now as students have a lot more choice of tools they can use.