not tied to a particular location or owner

There are cloud-based counterparts to many common software tools from email to word processing and spreadsheets.

Cloud-based applications can provide students and teachers with free or low-cost alternatives to expensive, proprietary productivity tools. Schools are beginning to take advantage of ready-made applications hosted on a dynamic, ever-expanding cloud that enable end users to perform tasks that have traditionally required site licensing, installation, and maintenance of individual software packages. Email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, collaboration, media editing, and more can all be done inside a web browser, while the software and files are housed in the cloud.

For many institutions, cloud computing offers a cost-effective solution to the problem of how to provide services, data storage, and computing power to a growing number of Internet users without investing capital in physical machines that need to be maintained and upgraded on-site.

The emergence of cloud-based applications is causing a shift in the way we think about how we use software and store our files.

Unlike traditional software packages that can be installed on a local computer and are available as long as the operating system supports them, cloud-based applications are services offered by companies and service providers in real time.

Browser-based applications are accessible for a variety of computer and even mobile platforms, making these tools available anywhere the Internet can be accessed.

Mobiles are already in use as tools for education on many college and university campuses

ven mobiles that cannot run third-party applications can be used in the classroom. One of the simplest applications is to use short messaging system (SMS) messages to allow student response in place of expensive clicker systems. Products like Poll Everywhere (http://www.polleverywhere.com/) let teachers set up questions online and use a web page to tabulate, graph, and display the results to the class. Students can see, for example, how their answers as a class differ in pre- and post-quiz situations.

Third-party educational applications are readily available for the newest mobiles, and educational content is easy to find for almost every discipline

Mathematics. In addition to applications for flash cards and simple drill practice, math tools for mobiles like Kids’ Fraction Fun (http://www.nscpartners.com/kidsmathfun62233) help students practice skills they are learning in school in a game-like format on the iPod Touch. Science. Mobiles can be used to photograph results of experiments in the lab or outdoors. Students can take measurements using tools like Seismometer (http://coneri.se/iphone/), or perform calculations with tools like ChemiCal (http://www.twssworldwide.com/ChemiCal.html). Art History. Students in Bath, England, will be using Mscape (http://mscapers.com) to create media maps of historical sites in and around the Holburne Museum and Sidney Gardens. Using cameras and mobile devices, the students will develop materials that can be used to raise interest in the site among the community.