1. Education Graduate Students' Association (EGSA)/
Association d'étudiant.e.s diplomé.e.s d’éducation (AÉDÉ)
Presents:
Tech Talks by Rebecca
Getting your head into ‘the Cloud’
2. About Rebecca
• PhD Candidate
• Technology adoption and mobile learning
• B.Sc. in Computer Science
• MA in Distributed Learning (Distance Ed)
• Blogger
– http://rjh.goingeast.ca
– http://goingeast.ca/blog
3. Agenda
1. Evolution of the Internet
2. Changing Software Models
3. Synchronous Collaboration
4. File Management Services
4. What is ‘the Cloud’?
“Cloud computing”
Data and services anytime, anywhere
5. Evolution of the Internet
World Wide Web
Tim Berners-Lee
Mosaic
first browser
Internet Explorer
“Web Log”
Jorn Barger
“Web 2.0”
Tim O’Reilly
Wikipedia
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Social Media
iOS App Store
1989 1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2004 2005 2006 2008 2011?
‘The Cloud’
6. Influencing Factors
Increases in connection speed
Increases in Internet
connected mobile devices
1. Changing Software Models
2. Synchronous Collaboration
3. File Management Services
8. ‘The Cloud’ as a shift in Software delivery
Software as a product
Software over the Internet
Software as an App (in an ecosystem)
Software as a Service (SaaS)
9. Product versus service – an analogy
When you buy “Software as a Service” or SaaS, you are ‘renting’ access
to the computers that run the software
10. Example: Adobe Creative Suite
Product: Adobe Creative Suite (CS6)
Design and Web Edition
Service: Adobe Creative Cloud
$449.00 (education price) $29.99 / month (education price)
9 Creative Suite Applications All 24 Creative Suite Applications
Version CS6 Latest version of all applications
Although Adobe Creative Cloud is sold as SaaS, the applications
do not run in the Cloud.
You still need to download the applications to your computer.
11. Example: Virtual Campus
Product: Blackboard Vista (Web CT) Service: Blackboard Learn
Hosted on uOttawa servers
(uOttawa owns and maintains servers)
Hosted at Blackboard
(Blackboard owns and maintains servers)
Support provided by:
1. uOttawa Blackboard
2. uOttawa IT
Support provided by:
1. uOttawa Blackboard
2. Blackboard
Governed by Licence agreements Governed by Service Level Agreements
(SLA)
12. Example: Qualitative Analysis Tools
Product: NVIVO Service: Dedoose
$670 $12.95/month
Windows Windows or Mac
Application based Browser based
Data on your machine Data in the Cloud
Supports collaboration (shared data sets)
15. Activity: Collaborating with Google Docs
• Precursor to Google Drive
• Allows multiple people to work on a document at the same
time
• Requires Internet connection
16. Activity Debrief
• What do you think?
• Do you see using it for:
– Teaching?
– Research?
– Collaboration?
18. File Management Challenges
• Getting files onto devices
• Keeping track of most recent version
• Keeping old copies
• Backing up just in case
19. Managing Multiple Versions
If you want to access a file when you are not connected to the
Internet (offline access), you must make a copy of that file for
your local device
There is no ‘magic’ solution to managing multiple copies – just
services to help you keep track of the latest version and avoid
conflicts
22. Data Synchronization
Every time your device
connects to the Internet -
the application checks to see
if you have the latest version
or if you have made changes
If necessary it automatically
uploads or downloads the
new files
23. Data Synchronization may happen:
• Automatically when you connect
• Only when you connect via Wifi
• At specific intervals (for always connected devices)
• At specific times
• When something changes (e.g. you close a file)
A synchronization service also manages conflicts
25. Activity: Dropbox
• This activity focuses on file sharing, synchronizing, and
collaboration
• Dropbox also helps with file management across devices
(we will cover this in the next session “Going Mobile”)
26. Debrief
• How did Dropbox differ from Google Docs?
• When would you use one versus the other?
28. EGSA Tech Talks by Rebecca
Tue Feb 12 Going Mobile
Wed Mar 6 Creating your
online identity
Thu Apr 4 Participants’ choice
These events are free; however, donations will be accepted to support the work of
the Caring and Sharing Exchange
Notas do Editor
Term is short for Cloud computing, and has been around since the beginning of computers
The Cloud has recently become a trend for talking about services that are available over the Internet
The main benefit is “anytime, anywhere” access to data and services
Term comes from the Internet being drawn as a Cloud in network diagrams
The increase in deployment and capabilities of Internet connected mobile devices is driving the expansion of Cloud services
1969 – Birth of the Arpanet – Connection between research universities – and birth of the Internet
1989 – The Concept of the World Wide Web was introduced
1993 – The first web browser, Mosaic (Unix based) – I remember seeing and playing with it in my undergrad
1995 – Internet Explorer – First web browser for the general user (Windows based)
1997 – Term Web Log coined by Jorn Barger (note – it had been happening already)
1999 – Term Web 2.0 coined by Tim O’Reilly
Represented a shift in the Internet from content created by web developers to content created by web users
2000 – Wikipedia started
2004 – Facebook launch
2005 – YouTube launch
2006 – Twitter launch
Together these represent the social media evolution – the Internet is about connecting people, not just providing content
2008 – iOS App Store opens – not the first App Store, but this really changed the way we buy software
2011? – Somehow “The Internet” became “The Cloud” … trend it towards providing “services” over the Internet rather than just information
1 – Share your story about working for Microsoft and on release, you would spend a day on the assembly line packing boxes
2 – Macromedia to download Dreamweaver or Photoshop
Washing Machine
– The thing you actually want is “Clean laundry” .. so you buy the machine to get clean laundry
- After purchase, you feed it electricity, water, and soap and it gives you clean laundry
- You need an appropriate place to install it
- When it gets old or breaks, you need to buy a new one
Dry cleaners / Laundry service
- You drop off dirty clothes
- Pay money
- Get clean clothes
- You don’t need to care about the equipment or maintenance costs associated with process
Someone else owns and maintains the equipment necessary to do the laundry. You in essence, “rent” the equipment in order for you to get clean clothes - A Laundromat is another example of a “service” .. someone else is maintaining and managing the infrastructure.
- One time cost versus ongoing cost
- Service – immediate access to upgrades without additional costs
- Companies want to provide you with “services” because it means they don’t need to manage old versions
- With a service, you give up control over versioning
- e.g. Facebook – interfaces keep changing – it is a service, you don’t get control over versioning
Another example – Virtual Campus (Blackboard Vista) was a product – uOttawa maintained the servers. We have just moved to Blackboard Learn, which is a service.
- Services are governed by SLA – Service Level Agreements
Notice that Skype puts their logo in a Cloud …
Who uses Skype? Is there anyone who hasn’t?
When I started my Masters in 2003 – Skype was founded the same year.
Our groupwork was done using MSN Messenger (text-only based communication)
Note that I also used MSN Messenger for work – as I worked at home about 60% of the time
The cohort a year after us used Skype – and when I took a course at Athabasca last semester, Skype was how we did our group work. It has changed distance education (e.g. I now hold Skype office hours when I teach).
There are others: Facetime (Apple only), Google hangouts
Files exist in multiple places.
How do you get them between devices (delivery issue)
How do you make sure you always have the latest copy (synchronization issue)
How do you back them up so that don’t loose them?