Direction () : Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Some words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of these.
The future of technology in education is the cloud. Technology can often be a barrier to teaching and learning. The cloud will go a long way to removing this barrier by removing the number of things that can go wrong. Schools will only need one major thing to be prepared for the future. They will not need software installed, servers or local file storage.
Schools will need a fast robust internet connection. Infrastructure is paramount to the future of technology in education. Teaching and learning is going to be social. Schools of the future could have a traditional cohort of students, as well as online-only students who live across the country or even the world. Things are already starting to move this way with the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs). Teachers can use the cloud to set, collect and grade work online. Students will have instant access to grades, comments and work via a computer, smartphone or tablet. Many schools are already doing this
. The cloud can also encourage independent learning. Teachers could adopt a flipped-classroom approach more often. Students will take ownership of their own learning. Teachers can put resources for students online for students to use. These could be videos, documents, audio podcasts or interactive images. All of these resources can be accessed via a student's computer, smartphone or tablet. What we must remember is that when schools adopt
new technology and services, they must be evaluated. This way, as a school, you know if they are successful and what improvements are needed. The staff will also need training, you can't expect staff to use new technology if they are not confident users or creators. Any initiative is doomed to failure without well trained, confident staff who can see how technology can support and benefit teaching and learning. Plenty of schools have already embraced this, but there's still a way to go to ensure all schools are ready for the future of technology. It is time for all schools to embrace the cloud.