The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all spheres of our lives and Education is certainly one of them. With the public education system already strained in the US and many other countries, the pandemic has only added to the woes.
As a direct consequence of this pandemic, conventional learning channels have either become completely un-available or rarely accessible. Another aspect of this problem is the technological divide that has further widened after this pandemic.
Not all low income families have access to the internet and personal devices to take quality education remotely. As a result, we observed a lot of initiatives before and during the pandemic to make education more accessible via remote channels.
Related: How Can dinCloud Solutions Transform the Education Sector?
Pandemic Induced Urgency for Remote Education
Slowly but surely, we were observing a steadily rising trend towards remote education or distance learning programs. Some of the world’s leading educational institutions also incorporated e-learning programs, in addition to on-campus study.
However, with the Covid-19 pandemic still in strong swing, distance learning has become a necessity rather than an option. Most educational institutions had to shut down in order to curtail the rapid spread of this deadly virus.
Now, we are observing a dual trend towards modes of distance learning. The first aspect of this challenge is to give affordable, yet performance worthy personal devices to students. This will provide the right enabling environment for remote education.
The other most crucial element of this challenge is how to impart education via remote channels, while also ensuring its quality is not much impacted. The entire education institution has to become remote ready to pull off this feat.
Related: The Future of The Education Industry
Cloud Computing and Distance Learning
This is where the capabilities of Cloud Computing truly come into play. The Cloud provides multi dimensional advantages to educational institutions desirous of starting distance learning programs.
Firstly, in order to take education online via the Cloud, educational institutions don’t have to procure, setup or maintain hardware on-campus. This not only results in saving costs, but also drastically reduces the lead time to make all this happen.
Ace Cloud Service Providers (CSP) like dinCloud have a global footprint of ultra performance data centers. These data centers can be used at a moment’s notice to act as a central repository of learning material for students to access remotely.
With all the learning material in the Cloud, students will be able to access their respective learning programs securely, at a time of their liking. The other great aspect of the Cloud is that students don’t need to worry about the devices they use anymore.
Related: Latest IT Technology Trends in Higher Education
Low Spec Devices are Cloud Ready
The Cloud also solves the other major bottleneck in the whole distance learning chain, which is lack of access to high spec endpoint devices. With so many students to cater, this can truly become a financial nightmare.
With the Cloud however, students can undertake learning even by using the most basic or low spec devices. This is made possible because all the computing resources in the case of Cloud belong to the service provider.
Lastly, the internet acts as a bridge in the distance learning chain. Over the past few years, the internet has come a long way and the bandwidth currently being offered by most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is more than up to the task.
Conclusion
Like many other spheres of our lives, Cloud Computing also has a pivotal role to play in distance learning or online education. This in turn will make education more accessible and affordable for the masses.
If you are also an educational institution looking to move to the Cloud to offer e-learning, feel free to Contact Us for our industry leading solutions.
