Cloud Computing, Managing Students Electronically Collected Laboratory Data
A Journal of Chemical Education article titled Managing Laboratory Data Using Cloud Computing as an Organizational Tool by Jacqueline Bennett and Harry E. Pence (J. Chem. Educ. June 2011:Vol. 88 no. 8) brings to light the the key role cloud computing will play in laboratory instruction.
The authors summarized the benefits of the cloud from a research and educational perspective nicely... "Cloud computing, where both software and computer files reside online, offers a solution to this data-management problem and allows researchers to coordinate their efforts just as easily whether they are working in the same laboratory or laboratories halfway around the world ".
MeasureNet Technology has been supplying chemistry lab instructors with cloud based tools for data-management, data security and Collaborative/Cooperative Learning solutions for many years. MeasureNet's Laboratory Electronic Measurement and Data Collection Technology is used in university chemistry labs by students to measure and collect data sets in the lab, store and share on the cloud and analyze these data sets from anywhere via the cloud. MeasureNet's patented unique Network design takes cloud computing to the next level by connecting students to the lab TA or instructor while they are are conducting the experiments. Using MeasureNet's real-time monitoring capablities, TA's in the lab can monitor student experiments to make sure they are conducting the experiments properly. Instructors or collaborators can also monitor the live data collection with their computers from any remote location via the internet.