Week 9 - Social Tools & Cloud Computing

This week we learned about cloud computing and social tools. Cloud computing is when services are hosted over the internet, where the computing resources are easily accessible. Examples of cloud computing include Google Docs, where multiple users can save and edit the same project without the hassle of email, and Delicious, a social bookmarking site. Social tools are online tools that allow users to communicate and share whatever they want with people all over the world. Some common examples include Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

Cloud computing would definitely be useful in my field, elementary education. Google Docs would be a great way for me to edit my students work, and for my students to work together in groups. Social bookmarking sites like Delicious would be a great way to share online resources with other teachers, and to have more experienced teachers share their online resources with me. Social tools could also be useful. For instance I could keep a class Twitter account where I would post reminders about upcoming assignments. Facebook and MySpace could be a fun way to have my class keep in contact with people around the world, but I would cautious about using them in the classroom.

This video explains cloud computing, which is a difficult thing to understand. It is similar to other videos we have watched in class, and explains the topic in an easy to understand way.