Taking to ‘the cloud’ in education

There has been a lot of talk about using “the cloud” for storing and sharing data. In our previous blog post, we already reviewed cloud storage providers such as Slashtmp.iu.edu, SkyDrive, Dropbox, and Box.com. Recently, Indiana University and Box.com came to an agreement to provide cloud-based storage to its faculty staff, and students at IU. In this blog post, we focus on how the use of cloud-based storage  could be used in education.

What is cloud-based storage?

When we trying to understand ‘the cloud’, think about how many people use the bank system today. While one’s money is still located in a centralized place (e.g., in the bank’s vault), it is accessible at many different locations (e.g., ATMs). As one interacts with an ATM, one can see the current amount and money can be added to/withdrawn from the account. Immediately, the amount on one’s account is updated to reflect the changes. Similarly, you can access your files from any device with an internet connection, much as you can access your money from an ATM, a website, or a physical bank. It is common to use online banking instead of offline banking. One does not have to go to the bank in person but one can  deposit, transfer, and even make payments all online. Like banking, cloud-based storage provides an account to upload, download, and share data with multiple of devices. Additionally, it offers to opportunity to do all these things through a website similar to online banking. Many individuals and organizations are now using cloud storage for diverse reasons, for example, data storage, data sharing, and collaboration.

Use of cloud-based storage in education

Educational institutions are taking advantage of the cloud as more and more schools are teaching courses that involve using digital media, such as pictures or videos. Cloud-based storage can help students and teachers easily access and share data anywhere and anytime.

Important features for education

Most cloud-based storage providers have common features like data backup, accessibility, and security features. The following aspects of the cloud are especially relevant for education.

1. Synchronization in real-time

One of useful features of cloud storage is remote backup. Cloud backup works similar way to traditional backup except the fact data are being moved to a server through the Internet rather than carrying it onto physical hard drive, e.g.,  USB drive. In school, any file one saves to cloud-based storages is automatically synchronized to all enabled devices such as a desktop, laptop, tablet , as well as the  webpage of the cloud-based storages (e.g. Dropbox.com, box.com). To automatically sync all of files to one’s devices, all one need to do is to download and install a program from the storage provider.

For example, if I add audio files to a cloud-based storage from my desktop, it is possible to play the file without having to download it, on my iPad, iPhone, and home laptop as it is already saved on my account in cloud-based storage.

2. Collaboration

Imagine you are collaborating on a project with a number of people in different places, and the project involves a set of Word documents. You might want to have a common place to store those files. With cloud-based storage’s synchronization function, your collaborators can independently open the documents, work on them, and save them to the one centralized place. With many different sub-applications available, much cloud-based storage focuses on collaboration function. For example, Agilewords makes it easy to collect group feedback, make online edits, track changes, and get quick reviewers’ approval. Other collaboration applications that are designed for specific fields are AutoCAD WS, for opening CAD files, AppFusions’ Box in Atlassian JIRA, DICOM Viewer for medical images, and eSurvey Mobile Forms for mobile survey.

3. Editing

Some cloud storage providers such as Google Drive and CloudOn provide users with an editing feature for documents. Google Drive, for example, enables users to create, share, and edit files and collaborate with others. However, they do not have offline support to create, share, and edit.

Some things to consider:

Before jumping on the ‘cloud’ bandwagon, there are several things to consider.

Pros	Cons
Low cost is used for operation compared to electronic data storage devices. It has automatic backup and recovery systems so no one worries about data loss. Data server is safely secured by the provider.	Service costs may by rising as the amount of data increases. High internet speed is required to make connections and backup a large scale file. If the provider server is hacked, security for data in cloud storage is not guaranteed.

Additional resources: Cloud storage comparison chart

•  Adrian Covert: Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox and More Compared: What’s the Best Cloud Option?
• Marti Trewe: Google Drive cloud storage comparison chart, full guide
• Ellis Hamburger: Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off
• Vince: Cloud storage comparison: Google Drive vs. Dropbox vs. SugarSync vs. SkyDrive vs. Box.net

Images from:

• http://www.twitchtime.in/2011/08/use-25-gb-cloud-storage-in-your.html
• http://www.ciskopicks.com/2011/07/dropbox/

There is a (portable) app for that!

Heading off to teach and not sure whether particular software is installed on the classroom computer? Tired of going to a conference and lumbering your laptop through airport security? How about plugging in your USB flash drive and having your software, bookmarks, and settings available to you!

Using a computer on which you do not have administrative access to install software can lead to situations where particular programs are unavailable to you and certain files don’t work (e.g., video, audio). Both circumstances can be frustrating when standing in front of an audience and result in significant scrambling on your part. But now there is a simple and free way to bring along your favorite computer programs with all of your bookmarks, settings, email as well as a range of popular programs. Portable apps allow you to install and run programs directly from a storage device, such as an USB flash drive or an iPod. This way, you do not have to install any software on the computer and, moreover, do not leave any personal data behind.

What is it? How does it work?
Portable apps (short for applications) are open source programs that can be installed and run on portable storage devices; therefore, avoiding the necessity to install software on the actual computer. This is particularly helpful when you need to work with many machines and you do not have permission to make permanent changes to a desktop’s configuration (e.g., teaching in different university classrooms). All one needs to do before entering the classroom is to download and install the app using a computer where one has administrative rights.

What is it not?
Be careful not to confuse portable apps with apps distributed by Apple or Android for their respective mobile devices. Although similar in concept, portable apps do not need to be installed on devices that house their own processing power (e.g., smart phones, iPads). Instead portable apps can run on so-capped dumb devices, such as storage drives. Furthermore, portable apps are free and open source for anyone to download.

What apps are available?
PortableApps.com currently lists more than 100 apps including popular software such as Skype, VLC Multimedia Player, or Open Office. On the website, one can find apps listed in categories such as accessibility, development, education, games, music & video, Internet, and more. Unfortunately, these apps can currently be used only on Windows machines.

Where to find more info?
For a list and description of available apps visit PortableApps.com (http://portableapps.com/)  or feel free to visit the Office of Instructional Consulting (http://www.indiana.edu/~icy).

A quick overview of digital citation managers

Faculty and staff, take heart! Your bibliography-building and library-management tasks need not be a source of stress or boredom. A swell bunch of tools are at your disposal to support the technical end of academic activity.

In this post, we’ll talk briefly about three digital citation managers. You’re likely to be familiar with EndNote, but there are two others – Zotero and CiteULike – that might be new to you. The idea is to offer three points for each tool: the developer’s overview (The Pitch); the application to your own work (The Potential); and how much it will set you back (The Price). Think about each one and pick what’s best for you!

EndNote

The Pitch: This citation software has been around the longest, and therefore claims itself as the “industry standard” for digital reference management. Since the mid-90s, EndNote has helped researchers build bibliographies, search for academic resources, and compile personal research libraries online. When this tool came out, the prospect of spending bleary-eyed hours manually building and checking – and re-checking, and re-checking, and re-checking – bibliographies became distinctly less likely.

The Potential: While digital reference management might not yet be the standard, it is at least a viable alternative. If you’re a researcher yourself, you have either used or heard about EndNote, so maybe it’s a good place to introduce your students to online resource management. Bibliographic style output includes MLA, APA, Chicago, and oh yeah, roughly 2,800 others. Keep tabs on current releases and new features here: http://www.endnote.com/eninfo.asp. Learn tips and tricks for using it, including Google Scholar integration, here: https://icoblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/afraid-to-use-endnote-here-are-some-tricks/.

The Price: If you want to require EndNote for an assignment or a whole class, just send students to http://iuware.iu.edu to download the locally-free version or to http://www.myendnoteweb.com to use the free online version. However, note that the downloadable version is pay-to-play if you don’t have an Indiana University account. Price tends to hover around the $100 mark.

Zotero

The Pitch: The Firefox plug-in Zotero has adopted four terms to describe its functionality: collect, organize, cite, and share. What this amounts to is a process that technologically aids the basic steps of scholarly research. As you locate valuable sources, you can arrange them in an order that works for you and automatically generate bibliographical citations for them. It kind of acts like EndNote’s cousin, only it lives inside a browser.

The Potential: Zotero is generally designed for academic research, but it really shines at the beginning and end of the process. When you’re browsing for sources online, you can save them to Zotero in one click. And later, when you’re building your bibliography, you can export citations from Zotero and paste them in a word processing document in formats including APA, MLA, Chicago styles, or any number of other popular citation styles. Zotero also accepts user-submitted, custom styles. This is almost certainly going to be useful to research for established scholars and graduate students, but it could be a good starting point for undergraduates, as well.

The Price: Free. But for now, it only works with Firefox. Check it out: http://www.zotero.org/.

CiteULike

The Pitch: CiteULike is a web-based, browser-driven citation manager has a lot in common with Zotero. It draws citation info from documents that you’re browsing online, and it provides a structure to help you organize your research, among other features such as library sharing. It was developed in 2004 for academic research in science, but its functionality makes it more widely applicable.

The Potential: This product does much of what Zotero does, but in a slightly different way. You can use it at any stage of academic research, either for your students or for yourself, but expect more of a do-it-yourself aesthetic in terms of filling in the details of your individual citations, attaching copies of articles, etc. The functionality is all there, you’ll just have a larger hand in making it work. Also be aware that CiteULike does not support bibliography building internally, like EndNote and Zotero; however, it does allow for easy export of bibliographic information to such tools.

The Price: This one’s another freebie! Create your account at http://www.citeulike.org/.

This has been what you might call a breakneck introduction to digital citation managers. There are features not covered in this post for lack of space, but click on those links to learn more. Our purpose has been to quickly orient you toward a few options for this specific type of technological assistance. Hopefully it’s been helpful!

Open Source CMS review

Here is a recent review of the most popular open source Content Management Systems (CMSs) from the Adobe Edge newsletter. I found it very useful in getting an up-to-date accounting of where these tools currently stand. It is always a plus when one agrees with the commentary 😉 The discussion is somewhat geared for the business/e-commerce world, but I think the review and comparison is still quite helpful for those of us in the world of higher education. You may find the open source CMS review here.

Evaluation of Web-based Forum Systems

I’ve recently completed an extensive evaluation of web-based forum / bulletin board systems (mostly open source) for a particular consulting project and I wanted to post the results here so I would remember.

We had the following important requirements for the project:

1. Individual, password-protected log-ins (for reporting and privacy)
2. Differentiated user roles (e.g., administrators who can monitor and alter, if need be, student posts)
3. User-friendly search/sort function (so users can find discussions easily)
4. Simple, visually stimulating front page (ideally with no more than 5
   links* that are associated with visual images/icons) 
5. Polls that can be disaggregated by site (students vote “Yes,” “No,” or “Undecided” and have to indicate where they are from to vote)
6. Threaded discussions, organized by issue (e.g., freedom of expression, cyberbullying, violent video games)
7. Forums organized by partnership
8. Site coordinator forum, organized by site
9. Teacher forum, organized by site
10. Ability to turn off private messaging and internal email
11. Ability to register students under the same (1 valid) email address
12. Option of having closed registration process, or possibly open registration

There were three systems that elevated to the top: phpBB, SMF, and vBulletin. All are written in PHP/MySQL and run on *nix/apache. The first two (phpBB and SMF) are open source projects and are available for free, where vBulletin charges approx. $160 for a lifetime license. They are all very solid full-featured systems, and the interfaces and options were very similar. Although we slightly preferred interface of phpBB, SMF and vBulletin fit more of the unique registration requirements we had for the project. It was a very close call between vBulletin and SMF.

vBulletin has every feature required, including the ability to view (from the admin interface) individual responses of polls, and the unique registration options. However the downside is the initial cost of the software, and in education there is usually not a lot of money.

SMF had almost every feature as vBulletin almost won out except for the inability to use the same email for multiple registrations, and the inability to view individual responses on polls.

In the end, we would highly recommended any of the three systems as a top notch web-based forum tool! Depending on the particular needs, SMF and vBulletin have a bit more fine tuning available in their administrative preferences and general features.

iPods, iTunes U, and Apple Digital Campus Community

Here is a new article from the Chronicle of Higher Education discussing the popularity of iPods on college campuses, the Apple iTunes U initiative, and the Apple Digital Campus Community. It does raise some interesting issues regarding proprietary vs. open source technology.

The full article can be accessed at the following url: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i27/27a02801.htm