From the simplest of tasks to huge complex operations, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives. Many aspects have dramatically changed with the introduction of latest innovations and systems. Similarly major reforms have been made in the field of Education, what with the classroom experience completely transformed for good. Devices like projectors, computers and calculators have made their way into classrooms during the past decade but now technologies like internet and cloud are also gearing to change the way we teach our children.
Cloud technology, due to its effectiveness and cost saving has been adapted at various industries. Education can also be next in line to enjoy the many benefits that it offers.
What is Cloud Technology?
Cloud technology in layman terms is storing all your data and providing access to it over the internet. This means that you don’t have to rely on tangible assets like your hard drive to store it. The ‘cloud’ as the name suggests, is used as a metaphor for the role of internet in its process.
When using Cloud, your data gets stored on service provider’s servers. You can also create a separate databank for your use and link it with cloud computing to access the information wherever you are, whenever you want.
Benefits of Cloud technology:
The reason why we think cloud technology can be fundamental in classrooms is due to the many advantages it offers. It is important to consider these benefits if its use for education is to be evaluated.
1) Among the different cost saving data management systems, cloud technology is indeed the cheapest. It is easy to maintain and upgrade compared to traditional data management and storing options that require not only costly maintenance but also different software to use, which further increases the cost of storing data on tangible assets. The Cloud on the other hand is offered by a third party, which means all these costs are taken care of. So all you need to do is pay for their services and get things rolling.
2) Easily accessible is the selling point that all cloud computing services offer. It is indeed the most alluring characteristic of Cloud technology. You can access the data anywhere any time as long as you have access to internet. This means that once you upload data on the cloud database, you or others can access it from their homes, offices or even a restaurant.
3) Cloud computing is easily implemented without requiring serious effort. All you need in most cases is to hire a company that offers these services, pay them their fee and you are good to go.
4) Everything is backed up on your cloud computing database. You don’t need to worry about issues like your data getting deleted, infected by viruses or lost due to a damaged hard drive. Everything that is uploaded on to the Cloud is protected and backed up in any case.
So why use it in schools?
Cloud technology can overhaul how we teach our children so it is important to consider the many advantages that cloud offers. These benefits can help any school reduce costs and increase efficiency in their teaching methods. Gathered here are a few ways using which cloud technology can be incorporated into classrooms to help the education sector.
- Cloud technology can help students easily access study materials and other relevant resources online, without having to bear the weight of tons of books on their backs. All they need to do is go online and find what they need to study. Consider what Khan Academy has done for millions of students across the world. You can replicate the model onto a cloud service and ensure that students can easily learn whenever they want to.
- The Education sector can also benefit from cloud technology by using it to store study materials. Teachers can easily update their syllabus and post results online. All year round students and teachers can interact online. In fact every part of the teaching experience can be incorporated. Gym, outdoor activities and school trips can become converged at a single place, whereas everything can be recorded and collated.
- Schools can save money otherwise spent on IT assets and infrastructure by encouraging students and teachers to follow BYOD or ‘bring your own device’, since every device can be connected to a single network through cloud technology. This way everyone can access the school network and get the desired material in a jiffy.
- Apps can easily integrate on cloud infrastructures, which means that schools can use different shared apps to help students manage their studies and access study materials. Students now don’t get to collaborate much as they are busy with different things. But once connected on cloud, they can discuss and work on projects without having to meet up. Google apps and many others help with these collaborative processes on cloud.
- Government schools and universities will be able to get the most out of Cloud technology since they follow the
same study guidelines and materials. These can be controlled and updated from a central location so that the tedious process of keeping everyone in the loop and checking in over various things
can be avoided altogether. Once all entities are connected over Cloud, they will be better able to regularize their education standards and help teachers across the network teach the same syllabus, thus bringing coherency into the system.
Cloud technology is beyond a doubt the future of databases. With this technology, schools and universities will be able to increase the efficiency of their teaching methods and also assist students so they can easily access study materials. The cost reducing aspect of Cloud technology will also enable schools to use those savings instead for other imperative resources and improvements.
