Some may argue that education is one of society’s most important functions. Yet, most classrooms are still operating as they did a decade ago. The education industry should be able to take advantage of our world’s technological progress, such as cloud technology. Shouldn’t they reap the same benefits of cloud computing as the communication sector does? In fact, there are many ways cloud computing can benefit the classroom such as student collaboration, document storage and virtual content.
How cloud computing is changing the education industry
Cloud computing has become a disrupter in terms of the way people engage in personal learning and interactive learning within the primary, secondary and higher education niches. It is pulling students and teachers away from desktops and leading them towards revolutionary change. One of its major strengths is the fact that it can house vast amounts of online content and open-ed resources–many of which, are free.
One such example is the Khan Academy, which offers thousands of free videos that explain everything from physics to finance, history and mathematics. This presents huge opportunities for every classroom throughout the world. Through cloud technology, the education industry can get resources delivered in a consistent and cost-effective way, that is easy to deploy. Then, there are the options for nontraditional students.
Older students, who never finished high school, can get their diploma through the cloud. When it comes to workers, they can pursue continuing education through the cloud. Some students may have anxieties over attending traditional schools–the cloud gives them the choice to learn from any location where they feel most comfortable.
Schools can work with the hardware they have
The benefit of cloud computing is it does not require any additional storage space on the part of the recipient. Just look at programs such as Adobe InDesign that requires at least 2.6GB of hard drive space to install.
Some school districts, such as Alief ISD of Houston, serves 46,000 students across 46 campuses. The cloud frees up the need for more memory by offering a reliable option for deploying programs and storing data. It helps the education industry become more efficient. Here are a few more added benefits:
- Easy access
- Shareability
- Increased collaboration
- No more paper
- Better security
- Stability
Virtual Reality
You’ve probably already heard of virtual reality (VR), which is an artificial environment created by software. When you enter the space, it appears to be your main reality. All it requires is sight and sound. Programmers use Virtual Reality Modeling Language to create these types of environments.
The future of education is VR. Yet, VR needs the cloud. Why? The reason is you can run and install VR software, with high system requirements, without having to change systems. To illustrate, there are many tech companies that produce VR headsets that require you to also pay for hardware and software upgrades. It can cost thousands of dollars just for one set. That is not feasible for a classroom budget or the average consumer taking online courses. With the cloud, you can use VR devices on your old system without having to pay additional hardware and software costs. That can decrease the initial cost by up to 10 times.
After the introduction of VR device, Oculus Rift, many cloud-based game companies have introduced their own versions that run on the cloud. This is a game changer for learning simulations, collaborative workspaces and corporate campuses.
In addition, Google introduced Google Cardboard, which costs around $15 per headset. Google and National Geographic now offer VR learning simulations for students that include everything from exploring space to climbing Mount Everest within a simulated environment. As a result, more teachers are incorporating VR in the classroom–and, the same goes for online campuses and universities.
Enhancing new levels of student collaboration
Within the traditional classroom setting, there was a time that students would open up one computer and everyone else would hover around. Now, the same group of students can all work on the same project, from any device in real time. They don’t even have to be in the same room.
When you take a look at online schools, they can collaborate with thousands of students throughout the world–and in varying time zones, just by utilizing cloud technology. Online training institutions have the ability to offer hundreds of courses because they can store them in the cloud. Students no longer have to learn and work from a physical classroom setting. The next frontier is holographic imaging, which will also benefit from cloud storage.
Education technology can change and move forward, thanks to the cloud. Traditional classroom settings are being transformed as students have the ability to collaborate from anywhere, at any time. Virtual reality is offering new ways of learning that can take students all over the world through one device and cloud technologies. The future is here, and it couldn’t have happened without the cloud. Interested in a demo? Contact us to set one up today.
