The educational system faces increasing demands from students, teachers and parents to provide personalized and differentiated learning environments, based on the needs and preferences of the students. But as these demands come in, schools continue to face budget constraints or cuts, making it a seemingly unsolvable issue.
And of course, that’s why we’ve written this post. Let’s take a look at how cloud computing can solve this problem.
For Teachers
Understandably, there’s a fear that technology might not be the best way to go about education. After all, hearing a teacher shout “Hey! No texting in class!” has become all too familiar. But that’s not what we mean when we say that teachers should embrace technology. With the cloud, teachers can bring innovation back into the classroom. They can create collaborative and interactive lesson plans, post assignments, textbook excerpts or extra resources online, and even offer extra help outside of school. They can use cloud-based education applications that enable individualized learning based on performance data and student preferences. Additionally, a teacher’s day continues after school ends. With the cloud and remote access capabilities, teachers can complete extra tasks, like grading, easily from home.
For Students
Most students already use technology on a daily business. They enjoy items like personal mobile devices, and they’re experts at using them. That’s why technology is the perfect way to reach students in an educational setting. Of course, technology shouldn’t distract from learning – but it can, and should, support it. Thanks to the cloud, schools can now embrace initiatives like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), which takes education to the student level and allows them to better engage in the learning process.
Don’t forget that students have busy lives too. Just like teachers and staff, a student’s day doesn’t end when school ends. Often, they head directly to another activity, whether it’s team practice, rehearsal, lessons, work, or simply a social event. With cloud computing and BYOD, they can be productive on-the-go and work around these other commitments. It’s easy to access assignments online, complete assigned reading without lugging around a heavy textbook, or participate in group projects. Cloud computing creates a more productive group environment in which students don’t need to match up their schedules with others’. Instead, they can access and edit documents at the same time via the Internet, collaborating from afar.
Cost Efficiency
Cloud computing moves schools from a CapEx to OpEx model. This is extremely beneficial for schools facing budget cuts, as they receive the computing capabilities they need as a utility, paying based on current needs and current usage of the resources. This is much better than investing based on conjectures of what you might need in the future. Educational institutions will save enormously on extra hardware, software, licensing, storage, power, extra IT personnel and more. And along with these savings comes scalability, meaning that schools can adjust the cloud service as necessary, so they aren’t paying for unused resources during winter or summer break.
Security and Recovery
This is a secure method to store educational applications and student and teacher content. The data is virtually stored and backed up in the cloud, so a school won’t accidentally lose files due to a crisis or network crash. A good cloud provider also has countless security measures in place on their end, including firewalls, encryption and much more network and physical security. Authorized users, like students or teachers, will use login credentials to access the information, adding another layer of protection. With security covered, schools can fully focus on offering the best education.
Cloud computing for education is the best way to respond to the increasing demands coming from all sides while also dealing with declining budgets and resources. It accommodates the current dependency on technology and helps bring education into the future.
