There are encouraging signs that a majority of schools in the UK plan to transition to cloud email and document creation services for use by students in the foreseeable future. Based on a new survey of several hundred schools in the UK released by SafeGov.org and the Ponemon Institute, 68 per cent of respondents expect to provide these tools in the foreseeable future, while 25 per cent already provide such services to their students.
As an advocate of safe and secure use of cloud computing by schools, I believe this development should be seen as a positive one. Senior school staff and IT practitioners in the UK seem to agree. The majority of UK schools surveyed see significant educational and social benefits to giving cloud tools to their students, including helping students to acquire skills needed for employment, thrive in modern society, and obtain better results on national exams. At the same time, they view cloud services as cheaper, easier to manage and easier for students to use.
But the study also shows that schools clearly recognise that use of cloud services has a dark side – 74 per cent see threats to student privacy as the top risk of cloud use.
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