Prospectives of Cloud Computing Applications in Professional Education

K. Sukumaran
(Shridevi Institute of Engineering And Technology, Tumkur 572106, India)

Abstract: Among the many computing methods, the emergence of “Cloud Computing” attained prominence in its evolution and applications in various domains viz., IT industry, institutions, universities and organizations. Cloud computing application in education is vital as it offer many advantages in terms of its affordability, accessibility by the users or clients. Many educational institutions are constrained in facilitating the required computer hardware and software infrastructure facilities in view of high costs, need of specialists, space, maintenance, operation, investment, etc. Moreover, the time to time up-gradation of hardware and software also pose severe limitations in possession, operation, up-keeping and maintenance. Adapting cloud computing envisage cost effectiveness, optimization of resources like space, power, services, investment costs, etc., by the users or clients. As a novel concept, cloud services are offered by cloud service providers to the clients as per the needs and requirements, which facilitate the end users expectations. The clients in utilizing the cloud services may be educational institutions, universities, R&D organizations, industries and others. The paper brings out cloud computing applications in professional education, which will be viable, flexible, user conducive in fulfilling the organizational needs and requirements for its functioning and operation. Cloud services have accessibility by the users using gadgets like notebooks, PDAs, ipads, mobile phones, etc., that makes it flexible, convenient and user friendly as it can be utilized anytime and anywhere. Cloud services in the domain of education are helpful in teaching and learning process like e-learning, web-based learning, etc. Cloud services can bring more awareness among the academia, R&D organizations, industries, institutions and universities to facilitate dynamism in information processing, data base management, knowledge acquisition and its management. Discussion and conclusions are drawn in emphasizing the effective adaption of cloud services for the benefits of all users.

Key words: software as a service; elastic cloud computing; processing clouds; storage clouds; application clouds