Cloud eLearning: Transforming education through cloud technology: Preliminaries for generation C

Abstract

Cloud computing is a buzz word that is also spilling over into the education industry, which enables access to software applications, hardware, data, and computer processing power on the Web, rather than installing software onto one's computer or server. For education, it offers new possibilities to structure and perform learning processes. In this study, the potential impact of cloud computing on education is analyzed, showing what it means for educators and students as well as institutions, and summarized under the heading 'Generation C', where C stands for cloud. The results of the study revealed that cloud computing can be used by educators, institutions, and individual students as well as by jurisdiction to support particular teaching and learning experiences and to organize software availability. Challenges for educators and institutions using cloud computing in teaching could be summarized under the following keywords: interoperability and transferability, terms and conditions, security and privacy issues, backup and perpetuity, denial of service and content issues. On a whole, some implications of using cloud computing need to be kept in mind, good understanding of the applications in use, development of guidelines for use and migration strategies as well as the implementation of risk management could allow educators and institutions to take advantage of cloud computing, in turn offering rich online learning experiences for students.