Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Journal 4 NETS-T II & III

Journal 4 “Computing in the clouds”

Johnson, D. (2009 - 10, Dec/ Jan). Computing in the clouds. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(4), Retrieved from http://www.learningandleadingdigital.com/learning_leading/200912?pg=18&pm=2&fs=1#pg1

Computing in the clouds is a term that refers to productivity tools that allow users to create files such as presentations, documents, spreadsheets, editing etc. It is an effective alternative that can be used by students and staff instead of costly software programs both in school settings and at home. This idea is beneficial because it gives access to files from any computer without having to worry about saving those files in external hard drives.

What are some factors to consider?

Even though the benefits are many, there are also many factors to consider. One should consider accessibility to the internet. Even though students may have access to their files from any computer what happens when they don’t have access to the internet or systems are running slow? There are also potential costs later in the future for using such programs that are currently free. Then there is the issue of privacy, will the files really be safe?

In addition to cloud computing what would be another means to reducing expenditures in schools without sacrificing materials?

Apart from reducing cost on software through cloud computing, schools can also purchase net books instead of laptops. Since computing on the clouds doesn’t require any storage space and students would be working online then it would make sense to incorporate the use of net books. Why net books? Net books because their main purpose is for internet use. In addition, they are more affordable because they are sold at a reduced cost over laptops making it them even easier to replace.

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