Cloud computing for education and learning: Education and learning as a service (ELaaS)

Cloud computing, despite its hype, is being widely deployed, with its dynamic scalability and usage of virtualized resources, in many organizations for several applications. It is envisioned that, in the near future, cloud computing will have a significant impact on the educational and learning environment, enabling their own users (i.e., learners, instructors, and administrators) to perform their tasks effectively with less cost by utilizing the available cloud-based applications offered by the cloud service providers. This paper discusses the use of cloud computing in the educational and learning arena, to be called “Education and Learning as a Service” (ELaaS), emphasizing its possible benefits and offerings. It is essential for an educational and learning organization, with its budget restrictions and sustainability challenges, to use the cloud formation best suited for a particular IT activity. The Jericho Forum proposes a cloud computing formation model, called the Cloud Cube Model (CCM), which is based on 4 criteria. To preserve the symmetry of the cube, a new cloud computing formation model, called the Complete Cloud Computing Formations (C³F), is proposed. The IT activities in the educational and learning organizations are then classified with respect to the two criteria: mission criticality and sensitivity. Each class is then mapped into the appropriate position in the C³F, creating ELaaS Quadrant. This essentially establishes a general conceptual framework for ELaaS.