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College is difficult
College life presents multiple challenges for new and veteran students alike.
For many individuals, entering the post-secondary educational arena
encompasses an unprecedented level of academic, social, and personal
development challenges (Stern 2013). Managing goals and overcoming
barriers across each of these dimensions requires a considerable amount of
efficiency and finesse.
More than a few tools exist to assist college students with the endeavors
above. However, the wide array of technology available to college students is
daunting and may repel students away from engaging in potentially effective
technology solutions (Henson 2). Determining which types of technology
provide useful services imposes time constraints on college goers’ already
busy schedules. However, cloud computing storage technology yields positive
effects on students’ academic performance, time management capabilities,
and overall efficiency without significant startup demands on students’ time.
Social networking platforms have influenced our culture and even entered the
academic arena. They are essentially massive cloud computing systems
provisioned and designed for specific purposes, which most college students
use on a daily basis. Similarly, some individuals have likely seen or heard
about cloud storage technology such as Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive,
even if they lack hands-on experience with it. This essay is specifically
concerned with this last group of cloud storage technologies because they
have the potential to simplify multiple aspects of college students’ lives (Faisal
67).
The free accounts afforded to students from the above service providers
contain enough storage space for most students’ needs, plus there is usually
enough room left over for managing music and experimenting with other forms
of media. For students that want more space, 200 GB only costs about five
dollars per month. Regardless of which provider students use, it is important
to remember that academic effectiveness in college is not only about activities
that directly relate to studying, tests, and writing papers.
Any time savings college students can manage ultimately supports their
academic efforts because it reduces pressure associated with performing and
fulfilling other duties (Faisal 67). For example, using cloud storage for
managing music means college students’ media is one place instead of
having to transfer, load, and shift music files around from one media device to
another (and its free if you already have the music).
To be clear on this point, count the steps required to finish working on a file at
work so it can be worked later at home. The file on the work computer needs
to be saved, attached to an email, sent to an email account, retrieved from the
email account later at home, downloaded again to the home computer, and
then work on the file can resume. This process of course already took place to
get the necessary files from the home computer to the work computer in the
first place, thus, the number of clicks, steps, and minutes this process requires
is unproductive.
Cloud storage reduces lost information
Alternatively, college students who use cloud storage software can skip all of
these steps because applications like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive
allow students to write academic essays, spreadsheets, presentations, and
other forms of content on within their cloud accounts. Students can even do
this if they do not own Microsoft Office or other native word processing
programs. Work completed on documents, spreadsheets, or presentations in
Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive is saved in real time as users work on
their content. Approximately five seconds after users stop typing, their
progress is updated and saved without students having to do anything.
This process is then repeated by each participant until, eventually, a final draft
is achieved. Unfortunately, not only is the sharing method redundant and
repetitive, but team members do not know when one person is working on the
shared document, which can result in confusion among team members about
who is doing what and when.
Use along with other study apps, participants can post instant messages as
they generate new ideas or think of responses to their counterparts' content.
Most impressive of all is that these aforementioned described utilities require
no more than 30 minutes to get the hang of because most users are already
familiar with Google or Microsoft interfaces, meaning that using cloud storage
applications, utilities, and functions are mostly intuitive.
Imagine working on a 20-page project with four other team members with five
days remaining before the deadline. Instead of having to ask each team
member for an update, teammates can simply log into their cloud storage
accounts to see where each team member is at, offer advice or share ideas,
or see if other team members need help.
Anytime comments or updates take place, both Google and Microsoft's cloud
storage systems allow users to set up email or text message notifications to
automatically generate when other team members add or edit content, post
messages, or upload new materials. Sharing in the cloud is easy and safe
because users can choose to share only select files and folders while other
folders can remain private.
Works Cited
Aharony, Noa. “Cloud Computing: Information Professionals’ and Educational
Technology Experts' Perspectives.” Library Hi Tech 32.4 (2014): 645. Web.
Faisal, M. “The Use of Deadline Not, Cloud Storage, and Google Calendar as
a Helpful Device in Managing Daily Agenda for Indonesian
Students.” International Journal of Innovation, Management, and
Technology6.1 (2015): 67–71. Web.
Hoeschler, Peter, and Uschi Backes-Gellner. Shooting for the Stars and
Failing : The Effect of College Dropout Self-Esteem. N.p., 2014. Print.
Kohler, Giancola, J., M. J. Grawitch, and D. Borchert. “Dealing with the Stress
of College: A Model for Adult Students.” Adult Education Quarterly 59.3
(2009): 246–263. Web.
Lin, Charlie, Wei-Chieh Wayne Yu, and Jenny Wang. “Cloud Collaboration:
Cloud-Based Instruction for Business Writing Class.” World Journal of
Education 4.6 (2014): 9–16. Web.
Park, Eunil, and Ki Joon Kim. “An Integrated Adoption Model of Mobile Cloud
Services: Exploration of Key Determinants and Extension of Technology
Acceptance Model.” Telematics and Informatics 31.3 (2014): 376–385. Web.