How can I tell if my iPad is syncing to my PC or iCloud?
You can tell if you are backing up to iCloud by going to Settings > iCloud > Storage &amp; Backup on your iPad. Look at the bottom of that page and it will indicate when the last backup was. 

In iTunes, on the Summary tab there is a check box to backup to iCloud. If you ever want to backup to the computer you can Cmd-click on the device in the iTunes sidebar and select backup now ( or something like that). 

Syncing and backup are not the same thing.