Download the powerpoint below to have access to my reviews of the top three cloud tools for students with examples and embedded html links.

Download the powerpoint to access the top three tools, with my review and examples that are

A GoogleDoc version of this can be found at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fr0rfEJ5bh6MMPH5gqTh3RFcixUoXBebo_0ItB2Ti4c/edit?usp=sharing

Click below to view all 15 tools I reviewed

Cloud computing is something that I have always known about but until this year I have not explored very much. I had used dropbox with my church for our Sunday School schedules and lessons but that was the extent of my exposure. I know that my iPhone always asks me about setting up the iCloud but I am still too leery of it to set it up just yet. Who knows though, maybe after this course I will be a big supporter of it – you know, getting rid of the fear of the unknown type idea.
           
As I said, this is the first time I am using cloud computing with my students. I have set my students (those who want to be online) with a Canvas classroom. With this classroom they are able to upload all of their assignments which prevents them from sending me many attachments in emails and printing off many pieces of paper. I have actually had a parent call and thank me for giving her child the opportunity to learn this way! Canvas works like a dropbox but there is a different ‘box’ for each assignment so the student can look at the expectations, then drop it in, very similar to what you are able to do in the D2L assignment dropboxes.
           
My hope is to have a course in the future, an English course to be exact, where students are able to drop their essays into a dropbox and have their peers go in, peer-edit an essay and then send it back to the original author. This is along the lines of what I have currently been doing with my students as I go into the assignment dropbox, access the assignment and then I am able to leave their mark along with a comment for them all in one place that the student (and their parents) can access at any time. This is something that I would be very  interested in pursuing even if I started teaching in a brick and mortar classroom as I feel like it is the way of the future and it would save many trees (the environmentalist in me).
           
I would be very interested to start using Pinterest with my students. Until OLTD 506, I never really saw it as an educational tool and now I am thinking of many different ways it could benefit my students. Until yesterday I
didn’t even see it as a cloud tool until I watched a YouTube video about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V_YN1Ql92hM). This made sense! Now I am so excited to start exploring and
creating assignments and opportunities for my distance learning students. I have found that a lot of the resources I use need supplementation and this would be a great way to organize it; as would using LiveBinder (another video I watched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hK6BeE9HCQ). I am already very happy that we are doing this course right before the Christmas break because I see so much potential and it will be nice to have a big chunk of time to play around with it before having to move on to the next topic!