Cloud computing is an emerging technology that seems to be taking off. From the growth of mobile technology such as smartphones and tablets, to the changing scopes of businesses and their employees doing more and more work online than offline, the ability to access our information from anywhere in the world has become a surprisingly refreshing and popular idea.

While prevalent in our personal and professional lives, these Service as a Software or SaaS Solutions have also entered that of our education system. Young people have embraced this new form of communication, probably without even knowing the impact on us. We aren’t just talking about social networks and chat rooms; here are six SaaS solutions that are being used by college campuses today.

  1. Email – Would it surprise you that email is by far the most popular form of SaaS solutions? This is true when you consider that one of the important factors is the ability to check it from any computer. And the most popular email service for students is that of Google’s own Gmail. Not only can students check their Gmail accounts from school and home, but with the rise of Android phones, email can be checked while on the go as well.  In fact, one recent study says 60% of public universities are using Gmail.
  2. YouTube – The popularity of YouTube has not waned since its introduction in 2005 and its purchase by Google in 2006.  Extra help can be gained by a variety of tutorial and help videos, while also helping potential students in choosing which school they want to go to by the use of the video tour guide.  We also learned from a recent .eduGuru study that 91% of colleges have a YouTube Channel.
  3. Flickr – A portion of social media includes those websites that allow for sharing of various media, and Flickr is by far the most popular among college students, with 62% of them having a Flickr account. Not only can students share with others; they can download and use pictures from others for project uses.
  4. Storage – One of the most obvious reasons to invest in SaaS solutions is that of the online storage of your files, which can easily be accessed from anywhere. Dropbox, for instance, is a favorite, allowing the upload of files, documents, video, and pictures; there is a desktop version, online version, smartphone version, and even browser plugins so you can upload from anywhere on any device.
  5. Wikipedia – Wikipedia and its various wikis are often the go-to when it comes to research on papers. While not looked at favorably due to user written content, these pages are still great SaaS solutions in terms of collaboration and research.
  6. Online Documenting – When working on an assignment or term paper with other people, trying to make changes or know which is which can be confusing. Google Docs and web versions of Microsoft’s Office allow for collaboration on a single project without confusion.

SaaS solutions for the education world are growing; even the use of interactive maps, such as those provided by nuCloud, allow the ability for students and faculty to view their school in a social way, from anywhere in the world.