By Michael Brown 1

Businesses quickly learn the benefits of virtualizing, storing and analyzing data in their cloud environment. But in an educational cloud environment, the benefits go beyond the ability to automate day-to-day business operations and extend into how we educate the next generation of students, whether employing cloud-based file sharing or other cloud technologies. Here’s a list of benefits that school districts have seen once adopting the cloud, which MSPs can pass along to their other clients.

Improved Performance Results:

NYC Intermediate School 339, located in an under-resourced community in the Bronx, was facing significant challenges trying to get their students to engage and complete courses. According to a Google case study, only 22 percent of the students completed grade-level math in 2007. Jason Levy, principal of the school reported that after the cloud was implemented into the school’s infrastructure, that percentage increased to 47 percent completion. He also noted better behavior and attendance as well.

How did the cloud facilitate these improvements?

There are a number of factors that MSPs can leverage when pitching it to potential cloud clients working in education.

One reason that students is that cloud tools allow teachers to track individual student progress and keep tabs on their strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. With the cloud, teachers are much more able to pinpoint a potential problem before it starts.

How many students have been reading the assignment? How long were they working on the quiz? Where were they getting stuck and where is the learning curve? These are all actionable insights that the cloud can provide which didn’t exist before.

Teachers can conduct lessons, perform student assessments and develop homework plans based on what the analytics are telling them, and automate tedious tasks (such as attendance or grading multiple choice answers) that allow teachers to focus on the important tasks.

A cloud environment caters to a variety of “learning types”. Students currently in the school system learn in a much different way than students did a decade ago, and the Internet has almost become second nature to them. Cloud tools allow them to interact with hyperlinks to outside sources, online video, educational games, webinars, and peer-to-peer models.

MSPs can help the school district customize the cloud model to be a perfect match for the school. They can assist in the transition from Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) to Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) depending on the school's needs. For example, a large trade school would have a different model than and small private school.

Especially for school districts with little funding and a small budget, cost efficiency is also a leading benefit of adopting the cloud.

Oregon was the first state to adopt the technology into their school system and estimates they will save their Department of Education $1.5 million each year.

The state worked it out so that all school districts have cloud computing available to them, but each school makes an individual decisions about whether or not to use it.

There is obvious reluctance for public sectors to lock-in a contract with one vendor. Facing legal challenges arising from non-compliance with security regulations for example is a significant concern. But the ability to teach students, save money, and store data so efficiently is an valuable opportunity for school districts.

Have you witnessed schools adopting the cloud? What other ways can cloud use in education be translated to MSPs?