Is it safe? Secure? Will someone steal my identity? These are just some of the questions that continue to be asked whenever the “cloud” is discussed among educators. At Ontario Local Schools, we decided the following cloud benefits outweighed any concerns:
* Reduces a school district’s storage costs.
* Reduces the number of servers housed in a district.
* Students’ work is more secure.
* Provides staff with the opportunity to further enhance or reinforce classroom lessons with BYOD and cloud-based applications.
* Great for school districts that must design “blizzard” bags for students to have assignments on snow days.
* Instant feedback from the teacher; real-time collaboration with a teacher or group of students.
* Many cloud applications are free.
* Students are responsible for their accounts and passwords.
* Students can work at their own pace.
* Assignments can be immediately uploaded to the teacher.
* Districts save money on paper.
* Staff members can grade assignments in a variety of environments.
Michelle Vance is the Director of Technology in Ontario Local Schools, Ontario, Ohio.
