This document provides an overview of cloud computing and its application in education, particularly distance education. It discusses key cloud concepts like deployment models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), benefits of cloud computing for education including cost reduction and improved collaboration, and how cloud computing can enhance distance learning by providing flexible, on-demand access to educational resources for students and teachers. The document argues that cloud computing has the potential to transform how educational institutions utilize and consume IT resources to better support teaching and learning.

1. Cloud Computing and application in
education particularly distance
education.
WEBINAR PRESENTATION BY FOLASADE ADEDEJI
AT INTRO TO ONLINE TRAINING WEBINAR

2. Content
 What is cloud computing
 Why use cloud computing
 Benefits
 Cloud Computing architecture
 Delivery Models
 Cloud computing deployment methods
 Cloud providers
 Cloud Opportunity for Education
 Benefits for schools
 Education as a Service
 Cloud Computing and Distance Learning
 Cloud Challenges

3. Introduction (Ice breaker)
 The Internet and web have come a long way
 It has evolved overtime and rapidly in the last 10years.
 Before I proceed, I want to ask…what is the difference between Internet
and WWW (web), many people use the terms interchangeably but they are
not synonymous, but related…answer from 2 people.
 Okay

4.  Internet is a massive network, it connects millions of computers together
globally.
 Web is the information/resources found on these computers it can in form
of text, pictures, audio clips, video clips, animations, and other stuff.
 In short lets see the internet as the hardware and the web as software, the
web is a part of the Internet. Lets call the Internet a restaurant and the web
the various dishes in the restaurant.

5.  The Internet and web have evolved rapidly in the last 10 years. Now you
don’t have install the Microsoft office suite on your computer to do word
processing, you can get that service online with a few clicks.
 In the early 2000s used the dial-up to access the internet, phone lines
where connected to computer dialled and connected to your ISP, it was
suffering compared to what we have now. We later moved to the wireless
technology from 1G to “G, now we have 4G.

6.  With traditional desktop computing, we run copies of software programs
on our own computer. The documents we create are stored on our own pc.
 With cloud computing, the software programs one use aren’t run from
one’s personal computer, but are rather stored on servers accessed via the
Internet.
 If a computer crashes, the software is still available same goes for the
documents one create; they’re stored on a collection of servers accessed
via the Internet

7. What is Cloud
So what is the cloud?
It is a buzzword, everyone’s talking about it
Anyone with a quick answer?
Cloud simply refers to a Network or Internet. In other words, we can say that
Cloud is something which is present at remote location
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—servers, storage,
databases, networking, software, analytics and more—over the Internet (“the
cloud”)

8.  With Cloud Computing users can access database resources via the
internet from anywhere, with any device that can connect ti the internet for
as long as they need without worrying about any maintenance or
management of actual resources.
 Simply put, the term cloud computing, or sometimes just 'the cloud' refers
to shared computing resources accessible either over the internet or from
a datacentre.

9.  Everyone of us connected to this webinar is using cloud computing now.
You have easy access to your information with any device anywhere at
anytime.
 If you use an online service to send email, edit documents, watch movies
or TV, listen to music, play games or store pictures and other files, it is
likely that cloud computing is making it all possible behind the scenes.
 So if you use email, drop box etc., you are already using cloud computing.

10.  Companies offering these computing services are called cloud providers

11. Uses of cloud computing
 Here are a few of the things you can do with the cloud:
 Create new apps and services
 Store, back up and recover data
 Host websites and blogs
 Stream audio and video
 Deliver software on demand
 Analyse data for patterns and make predictions

12. Benefits of cloud computing
 So why the hype around cloud computing. It
1. Reduced cost: Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying
hardware and software, you do not need to buy licenses.
2. Information on cloud are not easily lost.
3. No need for any customization or software updates
4. Improved document format compatibility
5. Unlimited storage capacity
6. Increased data reliability
7. Universal document access

13. Benefits of cloud computing
1. Latest version availability
2. Easier group collaboration
3. Device independence
4. Improved performance
5. Cloud providers that have specialized in a particular area (such as e-mail)
can bring advanced services that a single company might not be able to
afford or develop.
6. Institutions do not need setting up and running on-site datacenters—the
racks of servers, the round-the-clock electricity for power and cooling, the
IT experts for managing the infrastructure.

14. Cloud computing architecture
This refers to the components and subcomponents required for cloud
computing. These components typically consist of
1. A front end platform (our devices e.g laptop, phones, tablets etc)
2. Back end platforms (servers, storage where the data is stored),
3. A cloud based delivery, and a network (Internet access)

15. Cloud Providers
 Cloud computing is dominated by
 Amazon Web Services (AWS),
 Google Compute Engine, Google App Engine
 Microsoft Azure
 There are many small and medium scale cloud operators that include IBM,
Oracle etc.

16. Delivery Models
These are types of cloud services. There a majorly 3 Models
 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
 Platform as a Service (PaaS)
 Software as a service (SaaS)

17. IaaS
 Infrastructure as a Service
 With IaaS, the user rent IT infrastructure—servers and virtual machines (VMs),
storage, networks, operating systems—from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-
go basis.
 The user uses "fundamental computing resources" such as processing power,
storage, networking components, or middleware. The consumer can control
the operating system, storage, deployed applications, and possibly networking
components such as firewalls and load balancers, but not the cloud
infrastructure beneath them.
 Examples of IaaS providers are Amazon EC2, Azure Services Platform, Google
Compute Engine, HP Cloud, Oracle Infrastructure as a Service, Rackspace
Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Server are examples of IaaS

18. PaaS
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Cloud providers deliver a computing platform typically including operating
system, programming language execution environment, database, and web server.
Application developers can develop and run their software solutions on a cloud
platform without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying
hardware and software layers
Examples of PaaS are AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Windows Azure, Heroku, Force.com,
Google App Engine, Apache Stratos
Runtimes (like java runtimes), Databases (like mySql, Oracle), Web Servers (tomcat
etc)

19. SaaS
Software as a service (SaaS)
 With SaaS, cloud providers host and manage the software application and
underlying infrastructure and handle any maintenance, like software
upgrades and security patching.
 cloud users access the software from cloud clients
 Examples are Salesforce.com, Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365, Onlive,
GT Nexus, Marketo, and TradeCard.

20. Putting all together
 IAAS (Infrastructure As A Service) :
 The base layer
 Deals with Virtual Machines, Storage (Hard Disks), Servers, Network, Load Balancers etc
 PAAS (Platform As A Service) :
 A layer on top of IAAS
 Deals with Runtimes (like java runtimes), Databases (like mySql, Oracle), Web Servers (tomcat
etc)
 SAAS (Software As A Service) :
 A layer on top on PAAS
 Applications like email (Gmail, Yahoo mail etc), Social Networking sites (Facebook etc), e-
learning application come under SaaS.

21. I will quickly relate the Models with Google's offerings:
 IAAS : Google Compute Engine (One can develop programs to be run on
high performing google's computing infrastructure)
 PAAS : Google App Engine (One can develop applications and let them
execute on top of Google app engine which take care of the execution)
 SAAS : Gmail, Google+ etc (One can use email services and extend
email/google+ based applications to form newer applications)

22.  Type of Service Wise Popularity
 PAAS (Platform as a Service) is more popular among developers as they
can put all their concentration on developing their apps and leave the
of management and execution to the service provider. Many service
providers also offer the flexibility to increase/decrease the CPU power
depending upon the traffic loads giving developers cost effective and
& effortless management.
 SAAS (Software as a service) is more popular among with consumers,
who bother about using the application such as email, social networking
etc
 IAAS (Infrastructure as a service) is more popular among users into
research and high computing areas.

23. In simple terms
 When you have the software and the platform ready but you want the
hardware to run then you use IaaS.
 When you have a software developed by you, but you want to deploy and
run on a publicly available platform then you use PaaS.
 When you are a simple client who want to make use of a software but you
have nothing in hand then you use SaaS.

24. Cloud services deployment methods
 Public Cloud
Public cloud services are characterized as being available to the general public, from a third-
party service provider via the Internet. Third-party companies such as Google, Amazon,
Microsoft.
 Private cloud
Private cloud services offer cloud computing on private networks. Private clouds are
typically designed and managed by an IT department within an organization
 Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud is a combination of a public, private, and/or community cloud that
interoperates. In this model, users typically outsource non-business-critical information and
processing to the public cloud, while keeping business-critical services and data in the
private cloud.

25. Cloud opportunity for education
For schools, cloud is redefining both teaching and learning. Cloud computing for
education means all-new resources, multimedia learning, cloud-based textbooks,
and administrative tools. It all adds up to progress. It brings change, growth, and
opportunity. Cloud computing is a revolutionary tool for education.
 Benefits of cloud computing to education is same as mentioned above
 Better Storage, accessibility, safety backup, saves time and resources.
 Most of the technologies and tools that have been discussed in this forum are
hosted on the cloud.
 Most of the Cloud providers are offering Education as a Service e.g Microsoft,
Google, Intel etc, they all have packages that support education.

26. So Cloud computing can be used
 Individually by teachers to enhance teaching and learning
 Or by Institutions
Individually teachers are able to create interactive teaching. They can then as well
use these generally free technologies together with engagement in face-to-face,
online, and blended courses.
Example Microsoft and google education services
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education
https://edu.google.com/
Teacher can find great tools to support their face-to-face teaching and Learning

27.  Some other cloud computing services used in school are:
- http://www.sliderocket.com/ which students can build and submit their
presentations online;
- http://www.sidevibe.com/ which allows teachers to create an interactive
lesson on top of an existing web page and also collect and assess students’
assignment right away;
- http://www.jetjaw.com/ that enables student to participate in exams
displaying their results instantaneously on the screen;
- http://www.ratatype.com/ typing lessons that helps students learn how to
type faster and pass typing tests online http://www.ratatype.com/typing-
test/ ;
- http://www.icyte.com/ that allows in the capture of pdfs and web pages.

28. For Institutions
For schools with sizable investments in on-premises infrastructures, a
migration to cloud-based services may be a ways off. So their challenge will
be to maximise the computing, networking and storage resources that they
already have.

29.  Enhanced teaching & learning - Cloud enables students and teachers to
access a wealth of educational resources—to work, collaborate,
communicate, and share, anytime and anywhere

30. Cloud computing and distance
learning
 The use of distance courses in learning is growing exponentially. More and
more courses and degrees at institutes of higher education are becoming
available through distance-education programs
 Distance learning programs need to constantly innovate and optimize their
IT infrastructures. Cloud computing has the potential to transform the way
that IT resources are utilized and consumed in education
 Instructors of both blended and distance courses are expecting to include
more data-intensive and computing-intensive learning resources such as
interactive videos, virtual worlds, modeling and simulations in their courses

31. To meet the growing demands for flexibility, and on-demand services, and to be able to address the IT
challenges, distance learning administrators and practitioners need to explore cloud computing
The traditional method of setting up servers is not good enough
When an institution develops or deploys a new application, they first must jump through a number of hoops.
For example, if an institution decides they would like to install the learning management system,
they might have to order a server,
 wait for the vendor to ship it,
 install the server in the data center,
 provision an IP address for the server,
 set up the DNS for the new IP address,
 install the operating system, etc.

32. For Higher Educational Institutions
HEI that have not embraced cloud computing
 Distance learning administrators and practitioners will need to use its own
due diligence to determine whether the benefits of cloud
 computing outweigh the risks, based on its unique institutional
environment and circumstances.
 Select the type of cloud solution that fits the structure of the instructional
activities for your institution, IAAS, PAAS, SAAS
A new IT infrastructure can provide flexible on demand services to instructors
and students needs with cloud services the DL IT staff will merely click a few
buttons to get an application up and running in a matter of minutes

33. Institutions can set up an education cloud

35. END