When we talk of the overall impact of Covid-19, it becomes very difficult to ascertain which sector was hit harder by this global crisis. The education sector in general and higher education in particular have been hit pretty hard by the pandemic.
Most on-campus activities came to a grinding halt as soon as we realized the contagious nature of this novel virus. Then, there came a brief sigh of relief in which we thought things might return to normal, but this optimism was soon overshadowed by more bad news.
Distance Learning – A Viable Alternative
Instead of completely halting academic activities, higher education institutions strongly felt the need to proliferate distance learning platforms, which were not being leveraged to their utmost capacity before the pandemic struck.
However, with massive lockdowns and things seemingly moving further away from the norm, distance learning seems to be the only viable alternative that’s available to the providers of higher education at the moment.
Related: The Future of The Education Industry
On-Campus v/s Cloud Powered
As soon as the debate to pivot towards distance learning starts, the fundamental question that every higher education institution will have to answer is whether to deploy the infrastructure on-campus or go for a Cloud Service Provider like dinCloud.
This is a decision that has mid to long term implications, both in terms of the financial impact and the quality of education that’s being imparted via remote channels. Let’s discuss why a cloud based approach seems to be the best course of action right now.
No Hardware to Deploy On-Campus
If you go for a cloud based distance learning infrastructure as a higher education provider, you no longer have to deploy or maintain a data center on-campus. This relieves you from the up-front expense, physical space as well as the recurring costs.
Related: Cloud Adoption by Higher Education Providers Expected to Soar
Highly Available and Scalable Infrastructure
When over the Cloud, educational institutions can tap the highly available and scalable cloud infrastructure of the CSP like dinCloud. Leading CSPs like us endeavor to provide an up-time that’s in excess of 99%, giving the students un-interrupted access to learning.
The built-in scalability of the Cloud is yet another factor that is of great advantage. At any given point in time, it is next to impossible for the administration to put an exact number on the students that may enroll in a particular study program or semester.
Over the Cloud, this is no more a worry, as it can be scaled up or down in real-time, depending on the enrollment levels at any point in time. The other great aspect of Cloud powered learning is that you would be billed only for the utilized resources.
Related: How Can dinCloud Solutions Transform the Education Sector?
Up-to-Date and Interactive Learning Content
Taking the learning material fully digital is just a one-time effort on the part of the education provider. After that, it becomes a whole lot easier to make changes in the learning material in order to bring it in line with the latest emerging trends.
Secondly, digital learning content can easily be made considerably more engaging and interactive for the students. This results in a much superior learning experience for the students, while also improving the quality of education at the same time.
Collaboration via the Cloud is a Breeze
This holds equally true for both the faculty members as well as the students. Over the Cloud, students can interact among themselves in real-time via interactive virtual classrooms. The same can be said about the teachers, as they will be more accessible.
In addition to the learning content, the evaluation process of students such as assignments, quizzes and periodic examinations etc. can also be migrated over to the Cloud. This will make this process much more streamlined and secure.
Related: Why Higher Education Shouldn’t Fear the Cloud
Conclusion
The future of education, whether higher or otherwise, lies in the Cloud. The pandemic has only accelerated this move by acting as a catalyst. Down the line, the Cloud will prove as a befitting ecosystem for the education providers, teachers as well as students.
At dinCloud, we also offer very robust, secure and reliable dedicated virtual private clouds for your higher education needs. Contact Us for more information please.
