The Barriers and Enablers of the Educational Cloud: A Doctoral Student Perspective

Abstract

Background, Motivation and Objective: Cloud computing (CC) within UK HEIs is an emerging research phenomenon. When adopting new innovations, it is important to assess whether it will add value to the organisation. Contribution/Method: This exploratory empirical research is derived from the technology, organisation and environment model (TOE), which targeted higher education institutions (HEIs). A qualitative study, which explored the potential barriers and enablers of CC adoption by HEIs from a doctoral student perspective, was conducted, where 32 students at a University that had recently adopted the educational cloud situated in Northwest England, were interviewed. Results/Discussion/Conclusion: The results showed that the most significant enablers of the educational cloud were cost efficiency, scalability, flexibility and mobility, and especially collaboration among students. Whereas the most significant barriers of the educational cloud were security and cultural resistance. In conclusion, the adoption rate of CC is increasing gradually in UK HEIs, which is mostly down to the cost efficient and collaborative nature of the educational cloud, but there is still the issue of privacy and trust in the educational cloud which impedes adoption.

Risk Assessment Framework of mHealth System Vulnerabilities: A Multilayer Analysis of the Patient Hub

“…One such wireless technology that utilises these three layers is known as the "patient hub". The patient hub is an integrated care platform that relies on wearable sensors [9] and smart cloud computing technology [10] [11] [12] [13] to support patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and co-morbidities, with specific emphasis on Chronic Heart Failure, Diabetes, Anxiety and Depression. However, the manipulation of the patient hub applications and disclosure of sensitive data through potential network attacks could be fatal for patients relying on these technologies.…”

Factors affecting Cloud Computing adoption in Higher Learning Institutions in South Africa: A case of Matjhabeng TVET Colleges

“…As an application platform, it is used to develop and deploy end-user applications (for example, Salesforce.com, NetSuite, Cisco-WebEx and google docs). Ali (2018) defined cloud computing as an elastic and scalable utility model that offers flexible, ubiquitous, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (for example, servers, data centers, networks, applications and services) that can be rapidly provided and released with limited interaction of service provider or the management. It provides shared infrastructure, self-service, dynamic and virtualized pay-peruse platforms which put it on high demand.…”

“…Cloud computing may also make it easier for smaller colleges and universities with limited resources and in-house capacity to gain access to cutting edge IT resources that they would otherwise not be able to procure and operate on their own (Ali, 2018;Almajalid, 2017). A further argument is that public universities and colleges share many similar operational processes such as course offerings, admissions, enrolments, bursaries, research and graduations that can be standardized across the higher education sector, and offered as a set of services to the many colleges and universities in a more cost effective way than is currently the case (Akin, Matthew & Comfort, 2014;Seke, 2015).…”

Contextual Analysis of Educational Monitoring and Progression as a Service (EMPaaS) System in Higher Education

“…Currently, there are a number of cloud services on the market, including email services, GoogleApps, ERP systems and CRM Salesforce [28]. CC venders are now targeting higher education institutions (HEIs) [35].…”

“…HEIs face several challenges that can hinder their IS development. Legal jurisdiction, privacy and regulatory compliance, reliability of the cloud service provider security and confidentiality of data, unexpected inaccessibility and vendor lock-in are among the most significant challenges that can discourage HEIs from considering CC as an IS development solution [28] [29] [38] [40]. Similarly, the findings of a survey conducted by the Carnegie Mellon University, USA, found that the challenges facing HEIs were not restricted to the challenges mentioned above, but the undeveloped and un-proven nature (IT maturity) of CC given its relative newness is another concern for the institution [22] [41].…”