Cloud Computing Siegle

8/6/2019 Cloud Computing Siegle

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IIn a time of budget cuts and limited funding, pur-chasing and installing the latest software on class-room computers can be prohibitive for schools.Many educators are unaware that a variety of freesoftware options exist, and some of them do notactually require installing software on the user’s com-puter. One such option is cloud computing. ispopular technology trend has been gaining momen-tum over the last 4 years.

Cloud computing is a computing technology thatuses the Internet and central remote servers to main-tain data and applications. Cloud computing allowsstudents and teachers to use applications withoutinstalling them on their computers and also allowsaccess to saved les from any computer with anInternet connection. is technology involves muchmore e cient computing by centralizing storage,memory, processing, and bandwidth. It also enablesa number of individuals to simultaneously work on aproject—regardless of their location. e term cloud computing is used because the services and storage areprovided over the Internet (or cloud).

Some of the better known cloud computingo erings consist of productivity tools (i.e., wordprocessing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing, andconferencing programs). Google Docs (http://docs.google.com/demo) is the best known of these (see“Moving Beyond Google Searches: Google Earth,SketchUp, Spreadsheet, and More” inGifted Child Today , Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 24–28 for informationon Google Docs). Over the past 4 years, Google hassteadily improved these programs through its own

development teams and by acquiring other compa-nies with innovative additions (such as http://www.etherpad.com). Zoho (http://www.zoho.com) isanother program that o ers an impressive suite of online productivity tools that permits users to col-laborate on projects.

For example, a student in New Jersey could becollaborating with a student in Hawaii on a pre-sentation that they share with a student in Paris by using the cloud computing services of companies likeGoogle and Zoho. Best of all, the service is free; nosoftware needs to be installed. e programs run onthe Internet, and the les are saved on the Internet.

Although Google led the charge 4 years ago withits online documents, its dominance of cloud com-puting is now being challenged by the major pro-ducer of productivity software. Microsoft recently established large data centers in Houston, Chicago,Ireland, and other locations and has launched cloudservices for its popular O ce program (http://www.microsoft.com/cloud). Microsoft’s O ce Web Appson SkyDrive allows users to create, edit, and shareO ce documents with people who have O ceand those who do not. Two people can simultane-ously edit the same spreadsheet, Word document,or PowerPoint presentation from di erent locationsthrough a PC, the web, or a Windows Mobile phone(Chan, 2010). Microsoft, like most of the free cloudcomputing providers, implants advertisements intothe applications to support the service.

Students and educators who do not have the O ceprogram can now create Word, Excel, PowerPoint,

Del Siegle, Ph.D

t e c h n o l o g y

Cloud Computing: A Free TechnologyOption to Promote Collaborative Learning



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and OneNote documents on WindowsLive (http://www.windowslive.com).Users must have a Windows Livelogin. With it, they can freely create,edit, save, and share documents with-out installing any software. After log-ging into Windows Live, students canaccess les they have saved or createnew les from theO ce tab at the topof the page (see Figure 1). And conve-niently, like in Google Docs and Zoho,the documents they create are availablefor editing and sharing from any com-puter connected to the Internet.

ere are four major advantages tocloud computing. First, multiple cop-ies of software applications do not needto be installed on computers aroundthe school. is saves time and thecost of site licenses. Second, althoughdocuments created with these applica-

tions can be downloaded to the user’scomputer, they are usually saved on thesoftware provider’s server, so they canbe accessed from any computer con-nected to the Internet. ird, in many cases, the creator of a document caninvite others to view and even edit thedocument. Several people in di erentlocations can be interacting simulta-

neously with a single document. iseliminates the need for multiple ver-sions of the same document—thecurrent version is the latest version.Finally, in many cases, each versionof the document is saved and previ-ous versions of a document can easily be retrieved. Some cloud computingoptions contain all of these features,

while others contain one or two of them.

Businesses are nding that cloudcomputing saves time and money, andschools will also nd cloud computingto not only be “budget friendly,” buteducationally bene cial. Students canlearn a variety of computer productionskills in a collaborative learning envi-ronment. Projects started at school canbe continued at home without havingto transfer les or download compat-

ible software.In the not too distant future, it isconceivable that cloud computing may be the standard platform for all soft-

ware, and users will pay a monthly oryearly fee for using the services. Severalsoftware providers have already movedto this business model. Although feeservices already exist, all of the pro-

grams shared in this column are freeSome of these options are lled withadvertising, others are not. Somrequire a user login and passwor(essential for storing and retrievin

les), although many do not.In addition to the popular produc-

tivity tools provided by Google, Zohoand Microsoft, new specialty softwahas surfaced that features some othe cloud computing componentsdescribed above, but not necessarilall of them. Educators will nd sev-eral of these programs very useful. eremainder of this column is dedicateto sharing a few of them.

Photo Editing

Digital recording devices havbecome ubiquitous. In addition to

the widespread availability of digitcameras, digital recording devices anow built into most computers andcell phones. e images from manyof these devices can be improved anenhanced with photo editing softwareIncreasingly, in this digital age, ideaare being expressed visually. Being abto express oneself visually is becomi

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Figure 1. __________________________________________________

Figure 2.



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a useful communication tool. Studentsenjoy taking and editing digital photo-graphs. ey also can learn to improvethe images they use in the presenta-tion they make and the productsthey create. Whereas Google’s Picasa

(http://picasa.google.com) is a popularand free photo editing software thatcan be downloaded and installed onusers’ computers, Picnik (http://www.picnik.com), Splashup (http://www.splashup.com), and Pixlr (http://www.pixlr.com) are three cloud computingonline applications that will meetmost students’ image-editing needsand run on the Internet without beingdownloaded and installed. Beginners

will enjoy the easy-to-use features of Picnik, while more advanced userscan appreciate the more sophisticatedfeatures found in Splashup and Pixlr.

Although each of these programs runsthrough the Internet without install-ing additional software, they do nottechnically meet the full de nitionof cloud computing for two reasons.First, only one person can retouch animage at a time. e programs lack the

collaborative feature of cloud comput-ing. Second, the images are stored onthe user’s computer, rather than ona remove server (although there areoptions to store and share the nalimage on the Internet). With these twodrawbacks in mind, they are still usefulprograms that educators and parents

will want to consider.Picnik (which was recently acquired

by Google) can be used without cre-

ating a login and password, althoughusers will need one to create slideshows that can be shared on theInternet. Picnik also has a wide rangeof advanced features that are blockedon the free version. With little to noinstruction, students should be able toaccess the program, upload a digitalimage from their computer, and apply

a variety of edit-ing functions. eopening screeno ers options toupload a photo forretouching, create

collages, print animage, or createslide shows thatcan be posted onthe Internet.

Once a photois uploaded, it caneasily be improved

within the Edit tab (see Figure2). Students can

crop, improve thecolor, remove redeye, and sharpentheir images.Students can savetheir retouchedimages back totheir computer

with the Save & Share tab. TheCreate tab con-

tains a number of advanced featuresthat are mostly restricted to thepremium ($24.95per year) version.

e Library tabpermits studentsto upload up to ve photos, providedthey have established a login and pass-

word. e premium version permits

more photos to be saved on the site.Students also can design and save col-lages (see Figure 3) of their photos. If students have a login and password,they can create automated slide pre-sentations that can be posted to theInternet. e advantage of Picnik isthat it is user-friendly and easy to use.Unfortunately, many of the interesting

and advanced features are restricted tothe premium version.

More advanced users are probably familiar with Adobe’s Photoshop,

which has been an industry standardfor photo retouching. One key featureof Photoshop is the ability to createlayers. With layers, parts of severalimages can be combined to create new images. For example, the backgroundof one image can be erased and theimage can then be placed on a di er-ent background. Splashup and Pixlr

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Figure 3.



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have the layers option. Pixlr does norequire a login or password and alsincludes many of the features userhave come to expect from AdobPhotoshop. Students can create a newimage from a blank screen using th

drawing tools of Pixlr, open an imagfrom their computer, or open an imagefrom the Internet.

Once an image has been opened inPixlr, a set of Tools appears to the lefof the image andHistory and Layers

windows appear to the right of theimage (see Figure 4). ese resemblthe windows featured in Photoshopand Photoshop users will feel right ahome with this program.

Pixlr has tools to darken (burn)lighten (dodge), smudge, and stretchor squeeze certain areas of an image. also features a variety of usefulltersFor example, with a simple selectioof the vignette lter, a vignette e ectcan be added to a photo (see Figure 5Images can be saved to the user’s computer or saved to the web for otherto view. Pixlr creates a unique addrefor the shared photos. Users can shar

that address with others; however, anyone who has access to the address cadelete the image.

Dropbox

Cloud computing may be multiplepeople collaborating on documents inreal time across the Internet, such aGoogle Docs, Zoho, and WindowsLive O ce. It may be a web-base

software program that eliminates thneed to install the software on the usercomputer, such as in Picnik, Splashupand Pixlr. Or, it may be simply storingdocuments in the clouds, on remotecomputers connected to the Internet.

Nothing is more frustrating thanhaving to transfer les between computer at work or school and one

____________________________________________________________________Figure 4. The Tools Layers History

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Figure 5.





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Cloud Computing Siegle