
- Efficiency/productivity – 55%
- Mobile access for staff – 49%
- Creativity/innovation – 32%
- Reduced strain on tech department – 31%
- Research/development/deployment of new offerings – 24%.
- Real-time backup – The approach allows for real-time saving of materials so nothing is lost if a tool on an individual teacher’s device fails. Regardless of any problems that arise on one computer, documents are still intact and can be accessed from another device.
- Storage – Teachers and students are able to store any types of files within the cloud. Due to the strategy’s elasticity and affordability, large files do not pose problems.
- Access – Teachers and students can access files from anywhere – in the classroom, at home, or through mobile devices.
- Collaboration – The model makes it easy for teachers to work together on projects and for students to work on group assignments. Anyone with access can revise documents, with the new version reflected simultaneously. This aspect allows for ideas to be enhanced by teamwork and for lesson plans to be built synergistically.
- Paper and time reduction – As the IT system makes it easier to conduct tasks through the Internet, teachers no longer need to expend time and budget on printing and copying. Students can view and sometimes complete homework online, and they can access reading materials and other educational resources as well.
- Homework – Specifically with regards to homework, teachers can detail projects and assignments using virtualized tools. Students can access task pages from anywhere and post their work in response. The work is easily saved and can be graded by the teacher thereafter. Assignments don’t need to be collected in class, saving time and making flu bugs less likely to spread.
- Improved communication – Lynch notes that a portal such as Edline allows everyone involved in an academic setting access to classroom materials. Parents can check their children’s assignments and grades from any location, at any time. Teachers can make announcements to everyone involved in the class. It also allows all parties easy, organized, and reliable access to past and future assignments. If desired, forums can be created to enable direct interaction between parents, teachers, and/or students.
- Disaster preparedness – One crucial component of any IT infrastructure is disaster planning. Schools amass data about students that helps determine paths forward for all involved. If the records of the school are compromised by any type of disaster, whether they are stored on file cabinets or on hard drives, all that student data could be lost. By virtualizing all that information, the school knows it will always be available within a system structured to allow many redundancies.
- Centralization & ease – As indicated briefly above, one of the strongest attributes of this strategy is its ability to integrate various programs and sets of data. The approach doesn’t require an investment in hardware, and billing is based on use, making it a cost-effective and simple solution to deploy.
- Recovery – With this model, crashes and loss of data are quickly becoming a thing of the past. The system operates smoothly despite any failures of specific hardware or software components. If data is lost at one location, getting a backup copy is fast and simple.