University of Washington

FOSTERING COLLABORATION Collaboration Made Simple Cloud services make it easy to share and access work anywhere, anytime UW Bothell senior Avalon Willows collaborates anywhere, anytime using cloud tools. O n her summer study trip to Chile, UW Bothell Global Studies and Media Communications senior Avalon Willows was able to travel light. That's because with cloud computing services offered by UW-IT, Willows was able to access all of her UW resources and stay in touch abroad with just one small device. "All I took was my iPod touch," said Willows. "It was great to access everything in the cloud. I used Google Docs to keep up with class notes, and email to arrange financial aid, make plans, and keep in touch. I worked in my hotel room, in the lobby— anywhere with Wi-Fi—to write my class reflection paper. By the time I got home, my thumbs were sore from so much typing." According to Tom Lewis, UW-IT's Director of Academic & Collaborative Applications, having access to documents— anytime, anywhere, from almost any wireless capable device—is just one of the many possibilities cloud applications open up for faculty, staff, and students like Willows. Google Docs and other cloud-based software are another huge benefit. Willows agrees. "During the school year, when we do group projects, I insist on using Google Docs. It takes so much of the pain out of group work. Everybody can contribute directly to a shared document in real time, which can be really hard to do through email." The benefits of total access and easy collaboration extend much farther, Lewis said. The Google suite alone features nearly two dozen cloud programs—everything from conducting live, remote meetings, to developing a portfolio of student work, to blogging. 8 UW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY And that's just Google. In Winter Quarter, UW-IT will begin to offer Microsoft's Office 365 email suite with a 25GB mailbox and rich calendaring. The service fully complies with HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, so Health Sciences and UW Medicine will be able to use it. Other specialized cloudbased applications, such as Tegrity, give faculty an unprecedented ability to capture and share lectures and presentations, Lewis said. "In the past, large institutions like the UW often built email or other services from the ground up. The cloud changed that," Lewis said. "Today, UW-IT engineers add value to the UW's cloud applications by stitching and weaving innovative add-ons," such as the one just created for Tegrity that allows anyone with a UW NetID to use the lecture capture tool in any way their inspiration takes them. "Our job now is about integrating cloud and campus systems to deliver even more innovation more quickly to students, faculty, and staff," said Lewis. "And when you're working with companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, you know they're going to keep innovating and updating too. That kind of future-proofs us." Like many other students, Willows has embraced these innovations. "When I started at the UW, my binder was stuffed. Everything was on paper," Willows said. "I do everything digitally now. It's accessible from anywhere. It's so simple to have all your work available through one account. It makes life a lot easier."

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