The Impact of Cloud Computing on Education Industry
Introduction
Digital strategies have become a fundamental component of global enterprises operating in this dynamic world. A digital strategy encompasses the utilization of digital tools, usually driven by technological features, to enhance operational processes and redesign existing systems. Many organizations and companies have to follow some of the digital strategies for obtaining improved efficiencies and productivities, enhanced customer loyalty, and maximum cost reductions. Various digital technologies have transformed the world’s current operating systems and influenced every facet of our lifestyle, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Similarly, Cloud Computing (CC) has emerged as one of the most remarkable of humankind’s inventions. Mell and Grance (2011) enunciate that CC is a disseminated model that enables the utilization of virtual resources, including networks and software applications. In 1960, John McCarthy articulated that computation could become a public utility in the future (Mathew 2012). Today, the renowned giants amongst the global stakeholders like Microsoft and Amazon have widely adopted CC technologies by offering virtual infrastructures via Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services that have attracted big and small businesses (Marston et al. 2011). The CC technology has made a substantial impact on the education industry by offering various types of services to the students, faculty and the administrative department. However, a new computing technology also brings its limitations and challenges to the education sector (González-Martínez et al. 2015). In this regard, the purpose of this report is to perform an evidence-based evaluation of the influence of CC technologies on the education department; including types of CC technologies and deployment models, benefits of CC services to students, teaching and administration staff, the role of digital strategies concerning CC services, and the superiority of CC technologies over traditional computing methods. The report will also present real-time case studies of three educational institutions that are employing CC technologies for educational purposes. Furthermore, the discussion will critically evaluate the current challenges arising from the adoption of CC technologies in educational institutions. Lastly, the key themes of the report will be summarized, and strategic recommendations will be made for countering the discussed challenges.
Evidence-Based Discussion & Critical Analysis
It is essential to comprehend the types of CC services and cloud deployment models before understanding how it benefits and poses limitations to the education industry.
Cloud Computing Types
Researches indicate that CC services are broadly classified into three main categories, namely, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) (Zhang, Cheng & Boutaba 2010; Mell and Grance 2011). IaaS is the lowest abstraction level where consumers are provided with networking, storage and other services on the demand of users. The next level, PaaS, is an upgrade of IaaS as it allows users to deploy onto the cloud applications, and service providers support the run-time environments of these applications. Information Technology (IT) personnel, software developers and non-technical users, such as students, utilize resources at the PaaS level. Moreover, SaaS is currently the best-known level of CC technology that comprises of software applications which connect thousands of users through web access (Zhang et al. 2010). Users do not require authorization to obtain the software, and the cost of application software is relatively lower, which is particularly beneficial for university-level faculties and students (Wang & Xing 2011). Google Docs and Dropbox are popular SaaS software applications employed by educational institutions for documentation and storage purposes.
Cloud Service and Deployment Models
The three categories of CC employ a range of Cloud Service Models. These include software Applications, Run-time Environment, Middleware, Operating System, and Hardware (Pardeshi 2014). Education-providers use applications after reaching an agreement with the software applications providers. When faculties and students run the application, the environment in which it is running is known as the Runtime Environment. Middleware is an intermediate software that serves as a communication medium between software applications. This is extremely useful for educational purposes as it helps in connecting different software applications for serving various study-related objectives. The Operating System is the core of the application that manages the system resources of the user’s hardware. Moreover, Hardware comprises of physical units such as Central Processing Units (CPUs), data storage and networking, which has become an integral part of educational institutions.
CC services can be deployed in schools, colleges and universities in various ways. These are referred to as the Cloud Deployment Models, which include Private Cloud, Community Cloud, Public Cloud, and Hybrid Cloud (Pardeshi 2014). A one-campus school, college or a university can take advantage of the Private Cloud deployment model where multiple consumers (i.e. students) can benefit from cloud infrastructure services. For those educational firms that are offering services to different communities in various locations through multiple campuses, the Community Cloud deployment model is handy. Public Cloud service is intended for general public use and is popular amongst academic organizations. Hybrid Cloud is one of the most useful cloud deployment models as it comprises of two or more cloud deployment models (private, community and public) to enable application and data portability (Lowendahl 2012). The combination of models is bound together via standardized technology.
Cloud Computing Addressing Student Needs
Students have found CC technology to be incredibly helpful and efficient. CC technology provides a wide range of online applications that students can access anywhere and anytime according to their convenience. This has greatly increased the duration of exposure of learning resources to the students (Wu and Huang 2011). Students have different needs and requirements. The introduction of CC technology has allowed the flexibility to create learning environments that are designed to meet the students’ needs. The creation of a flexible, rich learning environment helps to boost learning productivity and allows students to achieve their learning objectives. Casquero et al. (2008) proposed a personal learning environment (PLE) that students can create using iGoogle where they integrate gadgets of a variety of external cloud-based applications like Google services, YouTube and blogs. CC technology has enabled students to share ideas, thoughts, knowledge and resources with greater ease and efficiency. The financial benefits of employing CC technology are particularly impressive. Students can benefit from cost savings because they do not need to obtain licenses of certain products that are available in Cloud for free (Ma et al. 2010). There is no need for installation, licensing and updating of the program. Moreover, there are no maintenance costs because all programs and services are readily available through a web browser. CC technology has thus created learning opportunities that are efficient, inexpensive and easily accessible to students.
Cloud Computing Addressing Institution Needs
CC technology has proven to be revolutionary in addressing the needs of the institution. Educational institutes have been under a lot of pressure to provide quality education using limited financial resources, i.e. they are expected to deliver more from less. CC combines the resources of many computers to function as a single entity, thus enabling the construction of scalable systems that store, process and analyze all the data of an organization. Prior to the use of CC technology, institutions had to purchase and own expensive, under-utilized resources (Laisheng & Zhengxia 2011). Now, these expenses are shifted to the cloud provider (Sultan 2010), and institutions are only charged once for single use. In this way, the net costs of using public cloud services are drastically lower than maintaining expensive infrastructures by a single educational institution.
By sharing IT services and resources among themselves, educational institutions can focus on their core academic and research activities. The money that institutions save from the use of CC technology can be invested in sophisticated research projects and educational activities. With CC as part of IT strategy, an organization can increase their capacity without compromising security. Aga Khan University in Pakistan is a note-worthy example as it reported that CC helped to strengthen security and improve protection against viruses, resulting in 66% reduction in calls to the IT department (Chandra & Borah 2012).
Ordinary server-related hardware resources have certain limitations as they are likely to collapse if the number of users exceeds the limited server capacity. CC technology, however, avoids this problem by increasing the number of servers and enlarging the capacity.
The current university digital resource library sharing system poses some problems that can be avoided with the use of CC technology. The run-time environments of teaching resource library are much more stable, and all types of users at all levels can quickly and easily find the required resources and the corresponding functions.
Cloud Computing vs Traditional Technologies
Traditional IT infrastructure consists of various pieces of hardware, such as a desktop computer, which are connected to a network via a remote server. This server is typically installed on the premises and provides access to the institute’s stored data and applications. The alternative to this is CC technology that is not accessible via hardware. Instead, all servers, software and networks are hosted in the cloud, off-premises (Pardeshi 2014). It is a virtual environment hosted between several different servers at the same time. It allows institutions to rent the data storage space from CC providers on a more cost-effective pay-per-use basis. The information and applications hosted in cloud are evenly distributed across all the servers, which are connected to work as a single entity. Therefore, if one server fails, no data is lost. Cloud also offers better storage space and server resources, including better computing power (Pardeshi 2014). On the other hand, traditional IT systems are not so hardy and cannot guarantee a consistently high level of server performance. They have limited capacity, and there is a greater risk of data losses that hinder workplace productivity. In light of the current financial crises in the world, institutes have started to opt for CC technology in favor of traditional technologies.
Cloud Computing Case Studies
The utilization of CC technology has become increasingly popular among educational institutions. A noteworthy example is Florida Atlantic University (FAU) that has six campuses across southern Florida, in addition to their main campus in Boca Raton (Chandra & Borah 2012). The university virtualized its data centre by employing the use of Hyper-V that allows consolidating workloads onto a single physical server. By making this change, the university was able to reduce IT costs by at least US $600,000. Furthermore, they were able to provide new IT services without expanding their staff.
Another impressive example is that of Singapore Polytechnic (SP) – the pioneer post-secondary institute in Asia-Pacific to equip its students with the latest skills in CC through an operational data centre environment, which is called the Singapore Polytechnic Electrical and Electronic Engineering Cloud Computing Center (SPE3C3) (Chandra & Borah 2012). The SPE3C3 will greatly enhance research work and sophisticated projects by providing staff and students with on-demand, virtual computing and storage in labs. It will be accessible by students on and outside of campus as long as they have access to the internet. In the academic year starting in April 2012, students (in the 3rd year of Diploma in Computer Engineering) were introduced to two new elective modules that depended on the SPE3C3. These modules were designed to teach and train students to manage data centres, and learn virtualization techniques, including server, storage and network virtualization and data recovery.
To meet the educational requirements of the 21st century, the Government of India also aims to tap into CC technology. National Knowledge Network (NKN) is a pan-India network for providing a unified high-speed network backbone for all knowledge related institutions across the country (Chandra & Borah 2012). The NKN will enable scientists, researchers and students from different backgrounds to work together and combine their efforts for advancing human development in critical areas. NKN has virtually connected 640 institutions. It aims to connect India’s 572 universities, 25,000 colleges and 2,000 polytechnics electronically to enable online learning and content sharing across the country.
Cost Benefit Analysis
CC applications do not only relieve the burden of dealing with intricate IT infrastructure maintenance and management, but it also plays a defining role in maximizing cost savings. According to a study (Chandra & Borah 2012), the cost savings of switching to CC technologies is quite impressive as the total cost savings for ten cloud-based computer users for three years was found to be $33,9613 (US Dollars). For the same number of office-based computer users working in the same period, the cost savings only amounted to $11, 900. Chandra and Borah (2012) revealed that the CC market is estimated to hit $241.6 billion in the year 2020, with the Public Cloud deployment services grabbing the major share of $159.3 billion. In the long run, CC services can play a pivotal role in cutting down IT costs of academic organizations, thereby maximizing their profitability.
Role of Digital Strategies in Education Sector
Educational institutions can benefit from digital strategies for achieving their business objectives. Customer engagement is an essential digital strategy that focusses on improving communication and interaction with clients. The impact of CC services can be seen in multiple aspects, such as student engagement, content creation for assisting teachers, and generation of personalised content to achieve student learning outcomes (Hershock & LaVaque-Manty 2012). Moreover, customer engagement in CC services can offer tailored and convenient solutions to the problems faced by students and teachers in academic organizations. CC can promote consumer engagement by assessing consumer behaviour and preferences Embedding cloud infrastructure services such as application software and virtual data storage into the education environment has revamped the teaching and learning methods in educational organizations.
Customer experience is another digital strategy that can positively impact the education industry. Educational organizations can nurture their relationship with students by providing excellent customer experience via the latest CC technologies (Lis & Paula 2015). Consumer experience is the way through which academic institutions can build and maintain the relationship with students. The digital resources of educational organizations must incorporate CC applications to enhance students experience. CC also brings an innovative dimension to the student experience by offering virtual connectivity and collaboration.
Furthermore, a digitized solution is another digital strategy to facilitate students and teaching faculties. Educational institutions depend on digital solutions in many challenges that may face. Off-campus learning during the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic has provided learning and teaching solutions in Saudia Arabia, as numerous students have not been able to travel overseas for commencing their education (Hoq 2020). Therefore, CC has played an instrumental role by enabling online learning and offering digitized solutions through virtual storage and networking.
Current Challenges
Although the CC services have made a tremendous impact in the education industry, it has the potential for enhancing its efficiency and cost for the educational sectors (Mathew 2012). There are risks related to security and data protection, intellectual property issues, requirements of organizational support and strict adherence to cloud-based standards. Moreover, the speed and lack of an internet connection can affect the CC services drastically (Leavitt 2009). There is also an essential need to conduct extensive research on CC issues in the education sector. Research themes include the design of effective and feasible cloud infrastructure, reservation, scheduling and scalability mechanisms, cloud-based learning environment, and supportive in-learning architecture (González-Martínez et al. 2015). According to Wang and Xing (2011), software application lags, lack of educational resources, and poor management of CC resources are some of the most commonly observed limitations of CC technologies. Due to data security concerns, it has become a challenge to gain user confidence and trust in CC services. Furthermore, academic institutions must cultivate professionals who can acquire and run CC technologies (Dong, Ma & Liu 2012). In the developing nations, lack of financial and material resources have restricted the use of CC services for students and education providers, especially in remote areas (Mary & Rose 2019).
Moreover, inflation, a high student-teacher ratio, preference of traditional teaching methods, and limited internet availability, has pitched a daunting challenge of implementing CC technologies. According to the Theory of Acceptance Model for assessing the ease of use of CC in the education sector, it has been found that only perceived ease of use will govern the pre-service teacher’s use of CC technologies (Shana & Abulibdeh 2017). A deeper knowledge of software applications and an understanding of how to utilize technology would have a substantial impact on the future large-scale adoption of CC services in educational institutions. Ultimately, the biggest challenge to the adoption of CC services in schools, colleges and universities will be to increase the awareness and familiarity about CC technologies amongst the teaching staff and students around the world to enhance their ease of use, and influence their teaching and study approaches.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, CC has transformed the teaching and learning methods in academic organizations. The discussed CC types and deployment models have diversified how students and teachers can benefit from CC services around the world. While CC has enhanced computing resource accessibility, data availability, mobility, data storage capacity and web access for students, it has provided faculties with scheduled delivery of study materials, software and assignments to ensure high-quality education. These benefits were not available in traditional teaching and learning methods. Moreover, the examples of academic institutions in Florida, Singapore and India provide sound evidence to the successful implementation and beneficial utilization of CC technologies. Cost-effectiveness is another crucial aspect of CC technology that has caught the attention of educational organizations. However, worldwide awareness and implementation of CC technologies is the toughest challenge for the government and private authorities as the perceived ease of use and Internet connection are some of the major pre-requisites for CC implementation. Moreover, some significant trends have emerged in the CC market. These include the powerful Kubernetes management tool that has provided effective solutions to cloud barriers and innovated the cloud infrastructure, thereby attracting the vendor market (Xie, Wang
& Wang 2017). SaaS is transforming into an intelligent SaaS with the help of AI technologies. As a result, the CC industry is set to dominate the traditional computing technologies across the world.
