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**Introducti****on to Tablet and Cloud Computing**

This project was created by students in Wayne State University’s IT 6230 course in order to analyze technology trends in education as reported in the [|Horizon Report 2012]. Specifically, the students looked at the following trends:
 * People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to: using tablet computers.
 * The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized: using cloud computing.

This wiki will discuss how applications, data and online resources stored in the cloud can be accessed by tablet computers. In this description, we will learn about tablet and cloud computing, review the history and background, find current examples of implementation of cloud environments, uses of tablets in education and predict the future of these technological resources in the future of education.


 * Tablet Computing **

Tablet computing refers to the use of a tablet computer, or tablet PC, or tablet. It is a a type of mobile device. A tablet computer is a wireless, portable personal computer which is larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant ([|PDA]) and smaller than a notebook. It has an integrated flat touch screen and operates by the user touching the screen. It uses an onscreen virtual keyboard, and a passive stylus pen, instead of a physical keyboard. The tablet blends features of laptops, smart phones, and earlier tablet computers with always-connected Internet, and thousands of applications. Its main display is the touchscreen. This is the main feature that makes it unique, portable, fun, and efficient for the user.

The keyboard on the tablet computer can come in different forms that differ in position on the screen:
 * //[|Slate]// - the standard form of keyboard that is not built-in, but may be connected with a wireless link or USB port.
 * //[|Integrated]// //-//can be hidden by a slide joint or swivel joint, where the screen for touch operation or detachable keyboard is exposed, so that the touch, screen can be used as a stand-alone tablet.

**Cloud Computing **

Cloud computing is a concept of virtual data centers sometimes used to describe network infrastructures that are hard to understand. It is sometimes a metaphor for systems providing computations and services on the internet. Clouds are usually accessed by lightweight devices such as tablets, smart phones or PDAs.

//Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities.//

//--InfoWorld Magazine//

**Evaluation and Predictions**

After the descriptions of tablet and cloud computing, the group evaluated the trends and made predictions for the future of them.

**Contributors and References**

The group members and their contributions is listed on the final page. The group also provided a link to resources to further explore tablet computing and cloud computing. A list of references, including their links, is also located on that page.