Benefits and Challenges of Cloud Computing Adoption and Usage in Higher Education

Mohammed Banu Ali,Mostafa Mohamad,Trevor Wood-Harper

doi:10.4018/ijeis.2018100105

Mohammed Banu Ali, Mostafa Mohamad + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4018/ijeis.2018100105

Copy DOI

Abstract

The aim of this article was to provide evidence pertaining to cloud computing (CC) adoption in education, namely higher education institutions (HEIs) or Universities. A systematic literature review (SLR) of empirical studies exploring the current CC adoption levels in HEIs and the benefits and challenges for using CC in HEIs was performed. A total of 20 papers were included in the SLR. It was discovered that a number of universities have a keen interest in using CC in their institution, and the evidence indicates a high level of successful CC adoption in the HEIs reviewed in the SLR. In conclusion, the SLR identified a clear literature gap in this research area: there exists limited empirical studies focusing on CC utilisation in HEIs.

Highlights

IntroductionCloud computing (CC) according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is “a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction
Cloud computing (CC) according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is “a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction
This paper aims to identify and evaluate empirical evidence pertaining to the benefits and challenges of CC adoption and usage in the higher education context by employing a systematic review method

Summary

Introduction

Cloud computing (CC) according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is “a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.”. As well as delivering various cloud-based applications and services to teachers and students, which can be used in both formal and informal education, CC can provide greater scalability, flexibility and mobility in the utilization of computing resources for teaching and learning purposes, increased collaboration, communication and resource sharing, and allows institutions to establish virtual communities for teaching and learning i.e. a customised learning environment (Askari et al, 2018; Kayali et al, 2016; Willcocks et al, 2014)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion