Cloud ComputingA Simple, Cost-Effective Solution

for K-12? Fall 2011

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A video by the originators of the “in Plain English” series

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What is cloud computing?

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A cloud computing site about cloud computing8

Top 5 Cloud Computing Providers- Technology Trendz

Here is a listing of the key Cloud Computing players based on potential and service offerings and indicative growth potential in each of the segments.

1. Amazon

2. Rackspace

3. Salesforce.com

4. Google

5. Microsoft

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Three Cloud-Based Office Suite Alternatives for Schools to Consider

1. Google Docs• Google Docs applications do not have all the features of Microsoft

Office or Open Office, but its apps are fully functional and simple to use. I would also add that Google Docs allows users to use real time collaboration and asynchronous collaboration as well.

2. Zoho http://www.zoho.com/• Zoho clearly offers users more collaborative tools than Google Docs.

Zoho also offers business apps and a family of Productivity apps which include applications like a calendar, notebook, and word processor.

3. Microsoft Office Web Apps http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/• Users with a Microsoft Office Web Apps account can create an Excel

spreadsheet, Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or a OneNote notebook. Users can also share their documents with other users too.

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Saving Money•Google Apps for educational institutions is free. The savings

largely come from the replacement of legacy e-mail systems and desktop office application suites, and these figures include the associated costs of IT support and infrastructure upgrades

Boosting Student Motivation and Performance• . . . classroom experiments confirm that technology in

education helps to boost student interest.

Preparation for the Real World• In addition to the obvious benefits of collaboration and

familiarity with technology, Google Apps is helping to prepare students for the outside world in some innovative ways.

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What is Office 365?Microsoft’s Office 365 is an intelligent mix of the following MS products along with rich cloud features (Sky Drive’s Cloud storage service is been used) – Microsoft Office applications such as MS Word, MS Power Point, MS Excel, Outlook, One Note along with Microsoft Share Point Online, Microsoft Lync Online and Microsoft Exchange Online.

The feature rich Office 365 will enable clients to access their e-mails, files & documents, contacts & calendar from anywhere and anytime and also from any device such as a Smartphone, computer, tablet etc.• The New Office 365 From Microsoft – Released

On June 28th 2011

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What about Apple’s offering?iCloud requires iOS 5 on iPhone 3GS or later, iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2; a Mac computer with OS X Lion; or a PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Outlook 2007 or 2010 or an up-to-date browser is required for accessing email, contacts, and calendars).

Some features require a Wi-Fi connection. Some features are not available in all countries. Access to some services is limited to 10

devices.

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Is iCloud a big deal?

iCloud marks a paradigm shift, turning the usual way people manage multiple devices upside down. Instead of using a notebook or a desktop PC as a central hub for media, contacts, email, and the like, iCloud shifts all that data to Apple’s Internet-based “cloud” servers.

iCloud’s immediate impact will depend on how smoothly Apple can launch the service. Although there will undoubtedly be a few glitches and hiccups as Apple brings iCloud online and scales it up to millions of customers, the company absolutely must do better launching iCloud than it did with MobileMe.

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K-12 Cloud Adoption Trends

•The research, “CDW-G 2011 Cloud Computing Tracking Poll,” conducted by O'Keeffe & Co. on behalf of CDW-G, found that the vast majority of K-12 institutions are using some form of cloud technology, though most don't seem to know it. In fact, only 27 percent of respondents to the survey conducted for the report identified their institutions as cloud adopters. But a full 87 percent reported that their institutions use one or more technologies that are based in the cloud, including:

• Google Docs: 57 percent;• Gmail: 39 percent; and• Microsoft Office Live Meeting: 9 percent.

• K-12 Budgets Begin Shift Toward Cloud

By David Nagel 05/26/11

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Michael is “not so sure the cloud is really here for us, at least not yet.” Why not?1. In the dozens of conversations I’ve had with school techs, teachers, and admins, and in things I’ve run across on discussion boards and the like, there’s a stranglehold in many schools on the technology itself. Technical folks, and with lots of very good reasons (see below for the biggest of them), just don’t want to let go of the local control.2. Nothing ever happens as quickly as you think it will.But, mostly because most of us just don’t want to run into situations like social media guru, Chris Brogan, wrote about recently in his article When Google Owns You… all about his nightmare experiences when the cloud he relies on went kaplooey.

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