Schools in the Cloud - how to videos

English: Cloud Computing Image (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Schools are changing the way we access, share, and store our stuff.

In any given day, students and teachers will create documents, take photos of student work, start a photo album, build a presentation, bookmark sites for further research, look for books, tag a video to watch later, email a link, read professional journals and blogs, make a map, chat, book an event, take notes, reflection video or blog, post lessons and homework, meeting minutes, curriculum mapping, agendas, pre-reading and pre-viewing lesson material, mobile alerts, etc.

Most schools use a blend of "in house" servers and "cloud" computing. Cloud computing is simply using applications and memory that is stored outside your workplace. Gmail is one such application that has up to 10 GB of storage available. 

For teachers and students, this means you are not restricted to using one laptop or one desktop. All your information, emails, bookmarks, web browsing history, usernames and passwords can be accessed and shared from anywhere on any device. I can access all my files, links, photos, and history from any screen.

CLOUD COMPUTING?

• The history of sharing information
• Cloud explained simply
• The evolution of the Cloud model

GOOGLE APPS?
These are all the great tools that stem from your gmail account. At this time, there is no other company doing a better job than Google. Schools can greatly benefit from these tools.

• Google Apps explained

What happened to the area called DOCS? 
Docs has been renamed "DRIVE" but many people still refer to these files as "Google Docs". This is the online storage area for all your files - documents (like word), spreadsheets, forms, drawings, and presentations (like powerpoint). This area is being improved every month.

• Google Docs
• Google Forms
• Organizing all your files
• How to create a Google Calendar
• How to start a blog on Blogger  and  part 2