Journal 4 NETS 2

I read an analyzed an article relating to technology in education, and I provided a summary/response to it, along with proposed questions and answers.

Johnson, D. (2009-2010). Computing in the clouds. Learning & Leading with Technology, Retrieved from http://iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Computing_in_the_Clouds.aspx

Summary:
Doug Johnson discusses the topic of cloud computing, referring to the use of online sites to perform tasks usually done by expensive processing programs. Documents, presentations, correspondence, and other tasks can all be done for free through cloud computing. There are many benefits to using the internet for these tasks, one being it's all free. I know especially at this day and age schools are struggling to make ends meet financially, and students and teachers are being greatly affected by this. Some of the other benefits of using the internet for these tasks are: less hard drive space being taken up, files can be accessed on any computer, don't need to worry about having the right software to open a document, and you can work on any computer anywhere. In order to make sure he wasn't promoting something he couldn't live by, he "lived in the cloud" for a few months. He found that it, for the most part, was an easy transition.

He also discusses the use of Netbooks as opposed to laptops. One of the big differences a consumer will notice is the price. Netbooks are priced around the cost of $250-300. This makes them a lot more affordable for people. They are smaller in size, which may take people some time to get used to. Through a Netbook, he was able to "live in the cloud" and didn't report any major problems. These are not used for people who have to edit videos or who need a CD drive, but in general, they are affordable and useful.

Q1: Is it reasonable to ask students K-12 to buy a Netbook as part of their school supplies?

A1: I can definitely see the benefit to having your students own a Netbook, but am not sure if it would be fair to ask them to buy one. The list of school supplies is so large at the moment, throwing this into the mix might be a bit too much to ask. As a student, I see more and more assignments being assigned online or needing a computer to complete, so whether it's required to own a computer or not, most of the time we have to get one anyway. Since technology will be more and more used in the future, maybe it would be a good first step to provide parents with information on Netbooks just to create awareness.

Q2: At this point in my education, would I be able to "live in the cloud"?

A2: I don't think I could live in the cloud, but maybe take a short vacation there. I am learning a lot about different programs I can use in the cloud, but would still consider myself a beginner. I'm not fully comfortable with all of the programs I've learned, but think that with practice I could be. I have a feeling that in the future most people will be using programs online, as opposed to paying lots of money for programs like Microsoft Office. Technology is constantly changing, and as a future teacher I will have to keep up with the trend.