Questions for Discussion are:
1. Are there ways in which cloud computing can positively impact our current teaching and learning environment? How?
2. How can we get started? How might we find applications to consider? And what would be included in the process of moving from our current applications to cloud computing applications? Are there are any obstacles in our way?
3. What are the ramifications on privacy?
1) By having a single program (web browser) to access cloud applications and manipulate information, it makes the platform and device type more irrelevant. Cloud applications can also be accessed in other ways, but the web browser method is the most popular and ubiquitous. The effect at the student/teacher level is that they may still need to get acquainted with the actual GUI for the cloud application, they do not have the interference of the operating system and all it's caveats to contend with on such a grande scale. They also can gain access to the same information on multiple devices such as an I-touch, their own mobile phone, a laptop, a desktop, or some type of PDA that has network access and a web browser.
2) You identify existing apps that have to be "installed" and find replacement apps that achieve the same goal, but accessible via a web browser or through a simple file interface. E.g. Heat vs. Grouplink. Heat had a client that had to be installed. If the Grouplink server were virtualized, it could be placed in a cloud environment which would dynamically allocate resources on the fly as the load ebbed and waned.
The app migration could take multiple forms such as manual input of records from one database to the other, or something as simple as an export to file and import from file from one source to the other. Obstacles would be time and money.
3) If you keep up with technical trade journals you will see the common complaint is the lack of standards involving data handling and security of the data.....this is a concern, as it should be. Although the cloud concept has been around for a while and has been implemented at multiple organizations, it is still changing/growing, else these standards would already be solidified.