The Cloud Ate My Homework

Gone are the excuses of my generation. ‘I forgot my notebook at home’, ‘someone already checked out the library book I needed’, or the fan favorite ‘my dog ate my homework’ don’t work anymore. That doesn’t mean that students today don’t have excuses. Technology may give us many benefits, but it can also give us a lot of grief.

With cloud computing, your documents are with you at all times. All you need is an internet connection and a computer (or a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet). You don’t need to go to the library, you can do all of your research online. Your dog can’t eat your homework if he doesn’t know your computer or phone password. So easy! You could even attend class from home!

While this is all sounds like a dream come true for education, nothing is ever that black and white. Technology can be your best friend or your worst nightmare.

Computers crash, software malfunctions, hardware breaks and the internet can go out at any time. Your school’s IT support team can really only manage the devices belonging to the school. Students who bring their own devices in or use their own computers at home don’t have an IT department at their disposal 24/7. That means trouble for you, and one heck of a tangled mess for the IT staff.

So while advances in technology make it easier for students to get ahead, it’s the IT support staff that fall behind. One step forward and two steps back? Have you embraced the cloud?