Pam Carnahan's Blog

I choose Cloudonomics, Written By: Byron Deeter and Philippe Botteri; Affiliation: Bessemer Venture Partners.
URL: http://www.slideshare.net/botteri/cloudonomics-101-creating-a-financial-plan-for-your-saas-or-cloud-computing-business

The site discussed the importance of using Cloud Finance when creating a financial plan for a business. I have included a few of the top 10 laws of cloud computing:
• Less is more! Leverage the cloud everywhere you can.
• Study the sales learning curve and only invest behind success.
• Forget everything you learned about software channels.
• By definition, your sales prospects are online- Savvy online marketing is a core competence.
• The most important part of Software-as-a-Service isn’t “Software” it’s “Service”! Support, support, support!
• Mind the GAAP! Cloud accounting is all about matching revenue and costs to consumption….well, except for professional services!
• Cloudonomics requires that you plan your fuel stops very carefully.
These cloud computing laws are great ways to understand how to get started and understand what needs to be done to have a successful business using Cloud Computing.

Reference:

C9 After reading chapter 9 I was interested in the final page of everything changes and predicting the future. I agree with the many changes that will continue to develop it can be difficult to keep up with the technology. Schools will have to continue to make changes to update the technology in their schools and using outside companies to maintain their software applications, etc. Using the Cloud will help students and teachers to be able to access information at any time which is moving towards virtual schooling. Using the cloud in a business class would be nice for the student to be able to store all their work in one place and for the teacher to be able access it at any time. Keeping in mind that the teacher will always be the designer of curriculum, planner of activities and responsible for assessing students learning abilities.
Using the Cloud in the business world is similar to what most companies use now. Using the computerized storage units outside their companies IT dept. will be a new way for them to operate. I feel it could help a business with storage problems and a cheaper way to go to assist the IT dept.

The key point in this chapter that intrigued me was how they integrated wiki into the classroom.  Using wiki for class projects and the teacher being able to track the students work/progress by what they post on wiki.  It is important for the teacher to establish a collaborative environment from the start of the project assignment and have it throughout the classroom.  The project must involve every student in one way or another to have a collaborative environment.  There are three options that wiki provides for the students to help them work together is a plus for a class assignment.  The three options include: allow students to edit others work, retain previous versions that students can revert to and lastly, the teacher can keep track of all the entries and edits made by the students.  As future teachers using wiki in a marketing class for an advertising project and using the three options and the 14 tips (pg 147) in wiki for guidance could be a fun and exciting project to create.

Using wiki in the business world can be used for pre and post meetings.  Business members can get on wiki and review the notes before a meeting that they will be attending.  They can add or delete information before printing the agenda and after the meeting information can be added that was stated and posted for everyone to view.  Also members that were not able to attend the meeting can review the information and add what they need to inform co-workers.

Another great web 2.0 tool to use in the classroom and business world.

Learning Outcomes Associated with Group Assignments

By:  Carol Schmer, Peggy Ward-Smith, Jane Peterson

Purpose of the study: to determine if learning outcomes were affected by participation in an online group assignments course.

A study was done to determine if working in groups for online course assignments changed knowledge/learning outcomes.  This study included nursing students in a masters degree program, the course was an online nursing theory class.  The study included a controlled group that completed the course individually and the other group did assignments in groups.  All assignments used the same grading rubric and each section had similar outcome requirements. The students had a choice to work in groups or individually and the instructors provided no incentive for either choice.  The students that requested to work individually had night and weekend work hours, which made it difficult to meet with groups.

Online education forces students to be engaged and participate with each other to complete required assignments.  Completing assignments within groups creates relationships, negotiate workload, and cope with school related stress.  The authors were concerned on how group assignments influence learning outcomes.  They did some research to understand what type of course assignments are needed to get to best results for the nursing students learning outcomes.

The results showed that there was no effect on the learning outcomes for the nursing students that did the course projects individually or in groups.  The online course was successful for group assignments and the study showed that the nursing students had the theoretical course knowledge and was able to answer questions on the APN certification tests. Overall the study was a success and showed that taking online courses and doing the course projects either individually or in groups did not change their learning outcomes.

C7 Getting started with virtual environments using Second Life is what I liked most about Chapter 7.  Since I am not familiar with Second Life it explained how it works and how to use it. Using Second Life in the classroom for answer and question time with the teacher, would be very effective.  It is  a private site and the teacher can have a record of what was said between her and the students and  using it throughout the classroom would be helpful.  The teacher could review what was written/said and either grade it or assist the students that are struggling in the class.

Using Second Life in the business world would be awesome, especially when using it for international meetings.  All business attendees can sit at their own desk and hold a professional business meeting with members from all over the world.  Along with having a copy of what was said for reference when needed.

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A key point from Chapter 6 that I enjoyed was the explanation on, how do you get started with video and photo tools?  The steps for digital storytelling was laid out in an easy to follow format (step-by-step) that made it simple for most people to follow.  I have created a small video on movie-maker in the past, but I never got the real feel for it and the video never really came together well.  When I read these steps it made it so much more clearer on how to develop a successful movie, etc.

After reading the six elements of digital stories to add to fist part of digital storytelling, these steps brought everything together to complete a wonderful video movie.  Finally the editing and using Picasa to make your photos fit and look good in your video was also easy to follow and understand.  Now I am ready to create not only personal videos but some for the classroom and businesses.  I would have used this tool when I was working full time to create a video for my employees to show them step a by step procedure they were not sure how to do.  This tool can very useful in the business world, not only for the employees but for the customers. Especially for the customers when trying to put a piece of furniture together (Sauder Furniture Co.) and they can bring it up on their computer,  download the video and watch while putting it together.  So many options with this type of tool.

I was intrigued by the study done by Crooks in 2008 about the relationship between Web 2.0 tools and learning (classroom integration).  Educators are asking themselves if using Web 2.0 tools,  will help students learn better and develop new and unique skills.  The study also included the four influential frameworks: behaviorism, constructivism, cognitivism, and the socio-cultural perspective were used instead of theories.  Using these frameworks it was discovered that most students are engaged in using Web 2.0 tools and would be easier to integrate them into the classroom.  I feel expanding technology is good for teachers and students to create a positive learning environment for everyone to enjoy learning and teaching.

Using Web 2.0 tools in the business world is a huge step forward.  Having these tools when I was working in the business world would have been such a time saver. I am hoping more and more business are aware of these tools and will integrate some Web 2.0 tools to progress the company in the right direction for success.