The Impact of Cloud Computing on Distance (Online) Learning
Distance learning has become quite popular lately, and many institutions are bombarded concerns as the number of online students increases. The most important challenge is the need to provide unhindered, flexible and quick access to the bulk of teaching instructions, lesson materials and learning platforms for students to give them the unique opportunity to attain greater educational achievements.
Distance education requires large amounts of data, with multi-faceted IT storage areas and easy access to interactive videos, online academic chats and teleconferences, digital feedback system and digital library services. Incidentally, these on-demand educational technologies have caused several institutions to either expand in-house IT structures or outsource services to third-party IT firms. This is because new servers, networks and storage facilities are needed to meet the upsurges in data produced by distance-learning students. However, this practice is uneconomical once affected institutions suddenly increase their annual budget for IT requirements.
Cloud computing has been recognized as a key solution to bloated IT budgets for online learning programs. Apart from helping reduce their overhead IT expenditure, cloud computing also provides some highly competitive features of reliability, scalability and speed. Institutions normally spend considerably to set up and maintain new educational technologies, but such expenses will be unnecessary when they move in-house IT structure to the cloud. Some options available to distance-learning students include:
- Software as a Service (SaaS)—students are allowed to use software/applications but have no power to control hardware, operating and networking systems;
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)—in this case, users can use a hosting environment for their applications, but cannot control hardware, operating system etc;
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)—users can control hardware, operating system and the networking system while using the storage facility, networking system and other principal computing resources provided by the cloud computing firm.
Online education administrators should consider adding cloud computing to optimize performance. Since cloud technology allows inter-operability, online learning administrators need not worry about whether current hardware, networking system, servers and applications will work perfectly with the newly-introduced cloud computing. Moreover, cloud technology enhances fast delivery of educational content, quick reception of feedback and students’ comments and the storage of huge amounts of data generated in the course of learning.
Though users are still concerned about security, privacy and long-time efficiency of cloud computing, institutions that have already moved IT structures to the cloud are enjoying benefits, worrying less about maintaining in-house IT systems, happy about the extent of flexibility and scalability provided by cloud computing. If they lose students in distance-learning programs, they can consequently reduce required storage and networking requirements, which is impossible in an in-house IT facility.
Cloud computing not only gives flexibility and faster rates of access to educational materials, but helps institutions both cut expenses and enhance academic performance.Learn more about the flexibility and scalability of cloud hosting, visit the Features page of GMO Cloud and see how the power of the cloud enables vast improvement potential for distance learning.
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About the Guest Author:
Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/
