Michigan Virtual School: Bringing Your Classroom into the Cloud
By Andrew Vanden Heuvel
loud computing sounds like the future, but in many ways it is already a part of our daily lives. Many of us use Gmail accounts to store and transfer large files; we use Flickr as our digital photo albums; and some of us even do our word processing with software that runs entirely in a web browser. Using remote servers “in the cloud” for storing data and running software has some clear advantages for our personal use, but the greatest benefits will come as we adopt these resources in our schools and bring our classrooms with us into the cloud.
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Three Benefits of Cloudy Classrooms While some schools have generated the funds to adopt one-to-one computing programs, most still require students to share computers. This often yields headaches for students, teachers and administrators since network logins can be cumbersome and expensive to manage and files stored on personal USB drives are easily lost or stolen. By contrast, the cloud provides secure storage, accessible from anywhere, for a price that can’t be beat (perhaps even free).
Teachers are prolific paper managers. Papers in, papers out. Papers home and papers back to school. Students face a similar paper management burden throughout their schooling. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were no more papers to print, sort and store? Of course, asking students to turn in electronic files eliminates the paper but can be just as difficult to organize and manage. Cloud computing resources,
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like Google Docs, can simplify the way we collect, organize, grade and return our students’ work – all without transferring a file or breaking out the red pen.
Schools are often plagued with rapidly outdated computers that are frequently in need of updating. But when computing in the cloud, you shift the performance burden onto the servers hosting the content rather than your own machine. This can extend the life of your school computers and justify the purchase of lower performance machines, such as netbooks or low-end desktops.
Tips for Bringing Your Classroom into the Cloud At Michigan Virtual School®
, all our
courses live entirely in the cloud. Students access their course material anytime from anywhere on any machine. While the cloud is a necessity for an entirely online course, face-to-face classrooms can benefit greatly from cloud computing. If you are interested in bringing your classroom further into the cloud, try some of these tips and resources.
Tip #1: Use web-based simulations and applets instead of downloading software.
The cost of purchasing and inconvenience of installing commercial software make it virtually impossible for teachers to try new programs with their students. Fortunately, a wealth of impressive applications like these are available in the cloud – no downloads required.
Zooniverse (
http://www.zooniverse.org) asks students to help astronomers classify
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galaxies, search for extrasolar planets and find solar flares – all using real astronomical data. Students can learn astronomy while making genuine contributions to science by using this excellent example of crowdsourcing done right.
ExploreLearning’s Gizmos (http://www.
explorelearning.com) are a virtual treasure trove. The math and science simulations cover a wide range of topics from 3rd through 12th
grade. While five-minute free-
trials are available for every simulation, a paid subscription yields handouts, lesson plans and online assessments. These innovative tools are used in many Michigan Virtual School math and science courses.
If you are looking for interactive simulations in history, geography, or language arts in addition to math and science, Mr. Nussbaum (http://www.
mrnussbaum.com/) may be your solution. Explore hundreds of simple interactives and learning games, which can be used as introductions or extensions to your lessons. Use the site map for quick and easy navigation of the many resources.
Tip #2: Google Docs saves both teachers and students from pushing paper. Rather than transferring electronic files back and forth, ask students to write their papers, make their presentations and perform their calculations using Google Docs (https://
docs.google.com/). Students can start their assignments at school and then continue working at home without worrying about file types, USB drives or losing their work. When it comes time to turn in their
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