SIGNATUREASSIGNMENT:CLOUDCOMPUTINGCOSTCASESTUDY

SignatureAssignmentCaseStudy
EDUC515EvolvingEducationalTechnologies
BelenMoreno
AzusaPacific,ProfessorTorrenceTemple

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SIGNATUREASSIGNMENT:CLOUDCOMPUTINGCOSTCASESTUDY

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ABSTRACT:Thispaperwillobtaininformationontheemergingtechnologyuseofcloud
computingandthecostefficiencythatcloudcomputingwillcreateinschools.Iwillgiveabrief
introductiononwhatdefinescloudcomputingandthemanybenefitsfortheuseofthisemerging
technologyinschools.UsingdifferentsourcesandinformationIwillprovidedetailsonhow
schoolscouldcutcostusingcloudcomputing.Thefinalportionofthispaperwillincludea
summaryofthecasestudywithmyinterpretationoftheresearch.Iwillalsoidentifyhowcloud
computinganditscostmaybeappliedtomyownprofessionalworkenvironment.

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Cloudcomputingisamodelthatisenabledforglobalanduniversalaccesstoashared
poolofcomputingresources.Theinformationthatispresentedincloudcomputingis
everpresentandcanbeobtainedthroughmanydevicessuchasservers,laptops,desktops,
phonesandtablets.ThecompositionofcloudcomputingisbasedonApplication,whichallows
forcollaboration,communication,contentandmonitoring.Also,Platformwhichprovidesidentity,
storageanddatabaseandfinallyInfrastructure,whichisawaytonetwork,computeandcreate
blockstorageofinformation.Educationwillbenefitfromcloudcomputinginmanywaysbecause
ofitsaccessibilityandlowmaintenance.Wewillfocusoncuttingcostforeducationthrough
cloudcomputing.Providedisabriefoverviewoftheusesofcloudcomputing,nowletstakea
lookathowcloudcomputingcostwillbenefiteducationifisimplementedintotheschoolsystem.
Therearemanyfactorsincloudcomputingthatwillprovidecuttingcostforeducationfor
example,theissueofinadequatenumberofteachers.AccordingtoSouryaBiswasaformerrisk
analyst,
Manyofournationsschoolssufferfromlowgraduationratesdirectlyattributableto
insufficientinfrastructureshorthandedstaff,tinyclassrooms,lackofteachers.Cloud
computingsolutionscansolvemanyoftheseproblems(Biswas).Thisissuecanbeseenin
somedistrictswheretheneedtohiresupportivestaffispresent.Somedistrictsinfactlackthe
moneytodosoandthereforeendupoverworkingtheirteachers.Withcloudcomputing,the
supportstaffmaynotbenecessarysincethedistrictwillnotnecessarilyneedtohiremore
teachersorstaffduetothecloudcomputingsystemthatwillreduceteacherworkload.The
workloadcanbereducedbysimplycreatinganetworkwherehomework,testandgradesare
keptonline.Teacherscanalsoreducetheirworkloadbyprovidingsupportonlineratherthan
usingclasstimetohelpwithproblemsthatcanbedealtwithinanonlineconversation.
Maintenanceofthecloudisalsoakeyfactorthatcouldcutcostofeducationalexpenditures.
Theserviceproviderwilltakecareofallthenittygritty,leavingschoolsfreetodevoteresources

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towardswhattheydobestteachourchildren(Biswas).Inmanyschools,ifaprogramis
implementedintotheschoolsystem,theteachersneedtobetrainedonhowtofixitandmove
onwiththeirlessons.ItshardformanyteacherstodoitallandthereforesometimesITstaffis
hiredtotakecareofthemaintenance.Usingthecloudsserviceprovider,schooldistrictscan
avoidhiringanITstaffmemberandteacherscanfocusonteachingratherthanwasting
educationaltimeonmaintenanceandupgradesonthecloudthatmayberequiredforsome
specificcomputerbasedlearningprograms.
Thecostofcloudcomputingcanalsocutcostforthefieldofeducationsincethereare
nolongtermcommitmentstothesystembeingused.AccordingJohnPowell,
Ascostsare

incurredonaperusebasis,therisksofcommittingtolargecapitalpurchasesare
removed.Scalabilityallowstheorganisationtoaddcapacityasandwhenitsneeded
andtoscaledownaswellasup,drivenbydemand(Powell).Thefactthatschoolscan
decidetheamountofservicethatwillbeneededorusedinaschoolyearisvery
beneficialincuttingcost.Thisgivesthedistrictsandschools,awaytospendonlya
certainamountofmoneytousetheservices.Thecommitmenttothecompanyalsois
uptotheschoolandthereforecanavoidlongtermcontractswhichcanbepriceyat
times.Movingon,schoolsanddistrictsthenhavetheabilitytocreateabudgetforthe
servicestheywouldliketouse.
Thefollowinggraphisanexampleofhowabudgetiscreatedbasedonthe
informationgatheredbypreallocatingserviceswithcloudcomputing.Theideaofpay
asyougo,isakeyfactorthatwillexercisecuttingcostforschoolsusingcloud
computing.

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Thiscasestudywasfoundon
ACostAnalysisofCloudComputingforEducation
by
FernandoKoch,MarcosD.Assun
c
ao,MarcoA.S.Netto.Thegraphfocusesoncloud
monitoringthatallowstheschoolordistricttotracktheresourcesbeingused.Itcanalsohelp
cuttingcostbycreatingabudgetusingtheinformationgatheredbytheservertoevaluateifthe
servicesareworthit.Thisexampleisofacloudproviderestimatingthedemandofitsservices
throughconsideringafixedtimetableforclassesandtheestimaterequiredperclass.Inorder
tomaximisethecosteffectivenessoftheCloudComputingenvironment,theschoolmust
implementasolutiontoallocateresourcesjustpriortoforeseeabledemand(Assun
c
ao,Koch
&Netto).Theschoolthenhastheabilitytofigureoutiftheywanttotakeinacontractorpayas
theygousingthedistributionofservices.Thisexampleusestime,workload,utilization,
monitoringandallocationtoacquirethecostmarginoftheservices.Besidescreatingabudget

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tocutcostforeducation,cloudcomputingcanbeeasilymadeavailabletostudentsusing
devicestheyalreadyhaveathome.
Accessibilityisoneofthemostimportantkeyfactorswhenworkingwithcloud
computing.Cloudcomputingcancutcostforeducationandschoolsbyminimizingthedevices
neededtoaccessthecloud.Thecloudcaneasilybeaccessedthroughmanydevicesthat
studentsalreadyhaveathome.Insteadofusingapersonalcomputereverytimetorunthe
application,theindividualcanruntheapplicationfromanywhereintheworldastheserver
providestheprocessingpowertotheapplication.Theserverisalsoconnectedtoanetworkvia
theInternetorotherconnectionplatformstobeaccessedfromanywhere(Adeoye).This
accessibilitytothecloudwillnotlimitstudentstorequirecomputerathome.Studentswillbe
alsoabletousemultipledevicesthattheyalreadyownsuchasipads,cellphonesandother
tabletsthattheymayalreadyown.Therefore,schoolscanalsocutcostbynothavingto
purchasenewtablets,computersorotherdevicestousethecloud.Othercostthatcanbecut
areingoingpaperless.
Goingpaperlesscanbeidealasitwillcutmanycostforteachers,studentsandthe
districtoverall.
Withcloudcomputing,theamountofphotocopyingisreducedsignificantly
evenmoresoifeachstudenthastheirownsmartdevice(computer,laptop,tablet,etc.).
Quizzes,tests,assignmentsallcanbetaken,scored,sharedwithstudentandparents,and
stored(Staines).Mostelementaryschoolsgothroughamassiveamountofpaperuseperyear.
Duetobudgetcuts,someteachershavetopurchasepaperthemselveswithoutgetting
reimbursed.Mostschoolsthatdohavethecoverageforpapercost,alsoendupspending
moneyonotherpaperrelatedexpendituressuchasprinting,leasingphotocopyingmachines,
purchasingprinters,maintainingprinters,inkcartridgesandalotofpaper.Althoughtheymay
havethemoney,manyschoolsdonotfallunderthiscategory.Cuttingcostthencomesintoplay

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whentheservicesofcloudcomputingareusedintheclassrooms.AsStainesstated,quizzes,
test,andhandoutscanbeaccessedonthecloudwhichwouldthencutcostforpaperusein
schools.StainesmakesanotherimportantclaiminrecognizingthatStaffandteachertime
spentprinting,filing,anddistributingcanbebetterusedonmoreeducationallydirected
activitiesthatimpactstudentlearning(Staines).
Asateacher,timeiseverythingandifyouhavetime,youmakethemostofit.Alotof
timeisspentbeforeandafterclassandeveninbetweenbreakspreppingforasuccessfulclass.
Teacherscanavoidwastingtimeprinting,filinganddistributingpaperhandoutsandsuchand
focusonteachinginstead.Usingthecloudwillallowteacherstodosothereforemorelearning
cantakeplace.Thisisimportantincuttingcostaswellbecauseschoolswillnothavetohire
supportstafftofixthesemachinesifbroken.Inlesseningoreliminatingtheamountofpaper
used,studentsandteachersarenowgivenmoreoptionswiththecloud.Optionssuchasfree
blogandsocialnetworkingthatcanaidetheexpensesforeducation.
TomBittmanaVPanalystwithGartnerResearchsuggestthatm
anytechnologiesthat
werepreviouslyexpensiveorunavailablearenowbecomingfreetoanyonewithawebbrowser.
Thisistrueforwebsites,blogs,videosharing,musicsharing,socialsharing,collaboration
software,editing/presentationandpublishing,computingplatformsinthecloud,etc(Bittman)
Cloudcomputingagainprovidescuttingcostineducationasitutilizesfreetechnologythatis
easilyaccessible.ManyprogramssuchasWeebly,GoogleDocs,andAmazontonameafew,
offerfreeservicesthatcanbeusedthatwillallowcuttingcostforeducation.Usingthisfree
technologytocollaborateandcreatecontentisanemergingtechnologyineducationthatcanbe
veryusefulasitwillenrichstudentlearningthroughtechnologyandreducethebudgetimpacts
thatmanyschoolsarefacing.

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Overall,cloudcomputingcancutmanycostineducationthroughmanyfactors.Wehave
seenhowimplementingthecloudintoeducationcanreducetheinadequatenumberofteachers
perstudents,payonlyforservicesusedandavoidinglongtermcontracts,createabudgetfor
servicesused,useseveraldevicesthatstudentsmayalreadyhaveaccessto,goingpaperless
andusingfreetechnologythatisavailablethroughthecloudsuchasblogsandsocial
networking.Anyelementaryschoolthatlackstheabilitytospendmoneyonsupplieswould
benefitgreatlywiththeuseofcloudcomputing.Cuttingcostcanbeimplementedinmanyways
usingcloudcomputingandstudentlearningwillnotbecompromised.Infact,studentscanalso
usethisnewemergingtechnologytobecomemoreawareoftheeducationaltechnologiesthat
arearisingineducation.
Cuttingcostforschoolsusingcloudcomputingcanbeappliedtomyprofessionalwork
asateacherinmanyways.Forexample,Icouldcreateanonlinesupportclassforstudents
whoarenotabletomakeittoclassandallowformoreeducationalteachinginclass.Icould
alsouploadmyhandoutsonthecloudtoprovideaccesstoallstudentswithouthavingtowaste
paper.AnothertoolIcouldusetocutcostfortheschoolistheuseoffreetechnologysuchas
blogs.Icouldhavestudentsturnintheirhomeworkontheblogwebsiteandevensend
remindershomeparentsusingappssuchasremind101.Educationismovingtowards
implementingtechnologyinmanyways.Thekeyistousetechnologyasatooltoenrichthe
educationofstudents.Astechnologybecomesmoreaccessibletoall,itiscrucialthatweas
educatorsutilizethemanyadvantagesthatthisnewemergingtechnologyhastoofferus.Using
newtechnologyallowsustocreateapossibilityforbrainbasedlearning,
interaction,collaborationandcommunicationwhichisverynecessarytomanageandcreatea
successfulclassroom.Cloudcomputingcanofferthat,andoffertheabilitytocutmanycostin
educationthatcanbeusedtowardsothereducationalneeds.