HOW IS CLOUD COMPUTING HELPING ELEARNING?
Cloud computing has been providing a big advantage for schools. It’s because when their LMS is hosted on a cloud, it’s accessible 24/7 from anywhere.
This kind of accessibility is not there when they have an in-house server when certain IP addresses are not covered and the server gets shut down after school hours.
There is a problem for teachers when they can’t log on to the school LMS and check assignments after school hours. This is not the case when teachers can log into the LMS hosted on the cloud, download assignments and check grades. The cloud allows the same flexibility to students also. The students and teachers also want to access the LMS on different devices which is only possible with the cloud. With cloud computing, they can access the LMS on any device. They don’t need to have the laptop with them all the time to access the LMS.
The IT staff is also free to handle other tasks because it does not have to manage in house servers. A cloud server is managed by the company itself. This kind of change has been beneficial for companies also.
It is one such company that allows teachers and students to access the cloud. It’s easy to get Google classroom at a domain name chosen by the schools. So, you can upload assignments on Google Drive. The students can also access the assessments from there. The students can also be sent emails through Google mail about the availability of assessments. You can also connect through students with Google Meet.
Microsoft
This is also an easy way to hold classes online. There is office 365 education. You can create credentials for this portal for students and teachers. They can access Outlook through this site. They can even download Word, Excel and all other apps on their laptops. They can then send the same Word documents through Outlook to teachers. Teams can be accessed online when you sign. There is a 50B mailbox so students can have large email accounts. The teachers and students can create accounts on the Office365 portal for free. For the rest of us, the access comes at 70 dollars per years. The teachers can also upload quizzes prepared in Google Forms and share them with students. The links to these forms are sent to students through emails.
Coursera
Coursera is also a useful site for students. It has affiliations with various universities and once you register for its courses, you can study from home. The students can get degrees from recognized universities while they never went there. The students can save valuable money that way which could have been spent on travelling and staying at a foreign university.
Blackboard
Blackboard is also a useful application that students can use for attending video classrooms. Since the service is provided from a cloud-based server the student and teachers have access to an LMS portal from anywhere and anytime.
This is how cloud computing has eased virtual education.
