15 Ways to Support Student Work in the Cloud

 5 Ways Students are Supported via Cloud Computing Below are five ways in which student learning is supported by cloud computing.

1. Student Access – Students today should have anytime anywhere access to school work.  With cloud access, students can work at their own pace. Teachers often report teacher that students will send in assignments and responds to discussion prompts at all hours of the day and night at times most convenient to them.
2. Student Collaboration - Easy collaboration among students is supported. Students can collaborate with others on documents and creative projects. They don't have to wait for face-to-face time and school network connections.
3. Teacher/Student Communication - Ease of communication is enhanced via cloud applications and school sponsored learning management systems. Example students are often more vocal in online spaces
4. Parent access - Parent support of their children is made easier when at home or out of school access to student grades and work is made easier.
5. Mobile Devices - From Smartphones to Tablets to Ultrabooks devices supporting cloud access are becoming commonplace.  Many devices are being released without media drives and usb drives. Cloud access is and will continue to be a 'go to' place of the near future.

5 Top Apps for Classroom Work in the Cloud The applications below offer quick and easy access anytime and anywhere via the cloud.

1. Evernote - http://www.evernote.com/evernote/ - Capture and annote ideas, images and more. Tag and search easily for fast retrieval. Online access across devices.
2. Google Apps - http://www.google.com/apps/edu/students/index.html - Real-time collaboration and sharing. Full productivity applications such as Word Processing, Presentations, Forms, and Spreadsheets
3. Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com - Store and share files easily. Retrieve from any device, any location.
4. Microsoft Office Web Apps - Online access to Microsoft Office applications. Shareable and accessible.  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/

5 Research Studies on Cloud Computing in EducationThe following research studies look closely at the benefits and needs for cloud computing in education.

1. The Horizon Report 2012 http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-edition
2. Pew Internet and American Life Project http://pewinternet.org/topics/Cloud-Computing.aspx
3. CloudBook - Full list of College and University-Based Cloud Computing Studies http://www.cloudbook.net/directories/research-clouds/cloud-computing-research.php
4. Speak Up Survey 2011 - Tomorrow.org - Reports http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup_reports.html
5. National Science Foundation Report on Support for Cloud Computing  http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12040/nsf12040.pdf

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things." Theodore Levitt

This post is cross-posted on the ACER Education Blog by Nancy Caramanico