Friday, April 17, 2015

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing (noun),  is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

Advantages of cloud computing:

1- Access from multiple devices
2- no need for software installation and setup
3- no more software and hardware maintenance overhead
4- no need for backing-up your data
5- faster connection


Types of cloud services:

1- Storage only cloud services (ex. google drive, icloud, and dropbox)

- allows you to save your data on the cloud
- they backup your data and take measures to secure it
- No need for USB sticks anymore


2- SAAS (Software as a service) ex. google docs

3- PAAS (Platfrm as a service) ex. ipage, and engine yard




Special Cloud Services:

*Google Cloud Print:    It allows you to print from any device and from any location.
                   
*Cloud Antivirus: It submits your files to the cloud to be scanned for viruses, it is faster and lighter  
                               than traditional antivirus.



Google Cloud Security Advantages:

- Encrypted data
- no virus infected files allowed
- less software installations, less viruses



Google Cloud Security Disadvantages:

- Google administrators can view your data
- Google administrators can delete your data
- Security depends on keeping your password a secret


Note: Boxcryptor is a tool that secures all your files in the cloud; ex. DigitalSafe (swiss)





              



 

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Webinar - Emotional Intelligence

The main goals of the webinar are to learn 10-minute activities to develop students' EQ, create a feelings-positive environment, and build trusting relationships. The main idea is that emotions impact the quality of learning, relationships, and student health in the classroom. 
There are many ways or tools to use that help us to be in a better mood. One way is visualization where a person closes his or her eyes and imagines doing the thing intended to do before actually doing it; for example, imagine finishing the steps of a big project successfully! Visualization, according to many studies, is a powerful technique that changes moods, facilitates learning, and is helpful for all kinds of tasks. Another way is to move your body as in dancing with a song, stretching, or even just playing a song in the classroom for a short time. In addition, giving positive support is important that is, through ovations, gratitude, and acknowledgements. Moreover, a research study was done in Hiroshima university, proving that "viewing cute images promotes careful behavior and narrows attentional focus". According to the study, people did better on tasks requiring careful attention after they looked at cute images of kittens, possibly due to a "cuteness-triggered" positive emotion. Eventually the previous techniques are only some of the many effective ways to improve EQ in a classroom.