The immense reliance on the digital space during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a transformation that many of us have had to adapt to. And with COVID-19 not leaving us anytime soon, the extensive use of digital technologies as an educational tool, for work, administrative tasks, and as a place to share content will only continue to grow. 

In fact, starting in 2024, the SATs- a standardized test that has been used to determine higher education placement for many aspiring students throughout the United States will move to an entirely online platform. This change of style for entrance exams regarding college admissions gives a bit of insight into just how far technology is impacting education. 

With this in mind, I decided to explore where cloud computing and education meet, and how cloud computing can and will alter the educational framework. 

‍

First and foremost, what is cloud computing? 

Cloud computing involves the use of large clouds to store data, form computations, and the like, to be done without the need of a user to be present or oversee these tasks. In other words, this application-based software allows for teachers, students, administrators, etc. to interact so long as there is an internet connection. The fact that cloud computing software is backed through extensive databases, multiple servers, computers, and so on allow for this to enhance the security of the data being stored. For education purposes, cloud computing can be used to enhance students’ learning experiences by uploading materials, promoting administrative collaborations, implementing cost-effectiveness/ money saving approaches, and taking advantage of data storage opportunities. 

Due to increased access to a cell-phone, iPad, etc. cloud computing could end up saving areas throughout the US money by taking money that would otherwise be used for facility purposes, and put it into an IT crew, or material for those who don’t have access to such opportunities. Cloud computing will also expand people’s access to education by diminishing potential geographical barriers, and encourage a global “need” to learn new methods and technology exposure.

With cloud computing, comes the concern of reliance. Institutions would most likely shift their concern to ensuring that the material being relayed to students involves minimal to no disruptions. To optimize the deployment of such cloud computing technologies, necessary monitoring and logging tools would be needed. Software providers need to be able to support non ideal scenarios, and provide the desired learning experience for all learners. Software providers will need to go beyond their traditional observability strategy to one of dynamic observability, understanding the context of how their applications behave - in order to rapidly fix application errors when they do occur.  (David Thacker).

Moreover, Thacker states that with increased dependence on software, comes the need for the following three things: familiarization, emphasis on criticality, and a better understanding. In other words, “ regular people need to become more familiar with how code works (e.g. google apps script, Appsheet, visual basic (Excel) even excel formulas, etc.) as coding is becoming a more critical part of our daily lives, and non ICT courses using Python, R, etc., understanding code will become increasingly important; alongside knowing how to debug the code. 

NerdVision rewrites the rules of the debugging process, by simplifying error identification processes. Enabling engineers to understand the context and causation of application errors seeing into how the application behaves. Since it enables individuals to instantly debug in production, teams can deliver quick and efficient fixes, diminishing the downtime on application uses for students.

‍

To Recap…

It seems as though cloud computing in an educational setting will be the future trend. Since we are currently seeing schools, universities, and other learning institutions using locally deployed softwares like Moodle, ILIAS, Blackboard, and such to relay messages and such to students. However, with the expansion of the technology industry, and the pandemic seemingly staying for a while, a shift in cloud computing is already happening before our very eyes with “education-focused cloud computing … to hit an estimated market value of $25 billion this year” (Eric Pulsifer, 2021). 

‍

References

Thacker, D. (2022). VP of Business at NerdVision.

Pulsifer, E. (2021, April 8). How is the education industry using Cloud Technologies? A Cloud 

Guru. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://acloudguru.com/blog/business/how-is-the-education-industry-using-cloud-technologies 

‍