And that’s a good thing! As ZDNet‘s Christopher Dawson writes:
Cloud computing is one of those great buzzwords in IT that, so far, has meant very little to the average Ed Tech customer. We all have a pretty good idea what it means: lots of computers somewhere (we don’t actually care where) doing lots of processing to deliver services to our desktops via the Internet. On the other hand, with the maturation of virtualization technology, the idea of virtual desktops and virtual servers is certainly rearing its head in education as we try to cut energy costs, ease management, and consolidate resources.
And the latest of example of this comes to us from SIMtone Corporation and Frank Porter Graham Elementary School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The school is piloting SIMtone’s cloud computing platform to deliver low-cost, virtual desktops to hundreds of students and faculty. The pilot is part of the SIMtone Education Thunder Program which aims to help close the digital divide and provide access to full PCs in the cloud to the estimated five billion people who cannot afford it, without requiring them to own a computer. The program educational content is provided by the U.S. Fund for UNICEF (USF), and is open to technology and connectivity sponsors worldwide.
Frank Porter Graham is part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District which is recognized for its academic excellence. The pilot is being launched during the current fall 2008 semester. SIMtone has also identified other schools and institutions to expand the Education Thunder Program on a national and global scale.
“Our school wants to equip each student with the most advanced computing environment necessary today to effectively study, learn and access all the digital courseware and teaching tools available. Asking each student to purchase and maintain their own PC is impossible, just as it is impossible for the school to ensure each student’s PC is up to date and has all the latest courseware. SIMtone eliminates all these complexities and costs, and allows our school to deliver to each student a real PC in the Cloud,’ fully maintained by the school itself, that is always available to our students on-demand and on-the-fly, in class, in the library and at home, without requiring them to purchase yet another PC,” said Shelia Burnette, Principal of the Frank Porter Graham School.
The SIMtone Education Thunder Program aims to provide students with their own, school-managed, SIMtone-powered PC in the cloud, containing their own coursework, homework, school services, personal files and TeachUNICEF education materials. An Asus Eee-based notebook (called a SNAPbook) will be provided for easy access to the cloud. BoardBuzz is intrigued. Is your district exploring Cloud Computing? Let us know, leave a comment.
