Once upon a time, to use documents (electronic spreadsheets, word documents, etc) on different computers in schools, you would need to save the files on a CD-ROM disk or thumb drive. The drive had to go with you anywhere you would need to retrieve the files.
Today, this is no longer the case. Cloud computing brings safety, stability, and reliability to educational institutions of all sizes. How is cloud computing changing the shape of education in Nigeria? Is cloud computing technology really advantageous? We address answers to these questions by discussing seven ways cloud computing in Nigeria is changing education.
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F.W. Lancaster predicted a paperless society in the early 1980s. Today’s world is not there yet and will not be for many years more. There are some instances where paper is the preferred medium in education. Even with the advent of digital books, people still prefer paperbacks.
There are an even broader set of situations where going digital poses enormous advantages. The advantages of cloud computing technology far outweigh the disadvantages.
Costs are saved that would have been spent on using and maintaining photocopiers as resources would be digitized. Teachers and students can easily and more efficiently access resources. Workflow and student performance can be tracked online using various analysis tools.
Cloud computing software aids support for student communication, creating teacher-management portals, and power collaboration and connectivity in remote virtual classrooms. Simply because cloud computing in Nigeria allows students to instantly access and store homework-related materials on remote servers, their bags are lighter and they can work from wherever there is an internet connection.
Students can also collaborate with classmates on group assignments without having to be in the same room. Consequently, more and more students are trading notebooks and binders for iPads and laptops, and more teachers are using online platforms to assign and track homework.
These impacts are implemented by cloud computing. Collaboration is also streamlined for teaching staff. With cloud computing, teachers and administrators can easily share lesson plans and can work on them together at any place or time. Through messaging apps and other formats, different schools can break barriers that prevent them from collaborating, which in turn leads to a more nationwide educational community.
One of the biggest challenges for teachers and students is the effective use of time. Cloud computing in Nigeria offers many solutions that give teachers more time to focus on instruction. Since students and teachers can access materials from anywhere, teachers can spend less time making copies.
Teachers will no longer have to deal with the frustration of misplaced materials and assignments as the cloud holds all this information. The cloud also streamlines the process for gathering missing and late work from absent students.
Teachers can save all their lesson plans and assignments to the cloud. From there, they can share them with other teachers and administrators and receive feedback on them. This makes lesson planning from year to year simpler and allows for teaching staff to shift plans easily.
If by chance a teacher’s laptop fails, all the information will not need to be recreated as the cloud will retain it. Cloud computing technology gives users the flexibility to work from anywhere.
Cloud computing fosters opportunities for improvements in educational standards in school. Teachers can connect their students to multiple programs and applications, allowing for students to be innovative in their presentation of mastery of standards.
Cloud computing offers students opportunities to use many technologies to demonstrate academic and social knowledge. Through the cloud, teachers and students can customize assignments to meet a student’s specific needs.
21st-century classrooms need more flexibility in terms of design and innovation. Innovative classroom formats such as blended or flipped classrooms are streamlined through cloud-based services. Both models allow for more face-to-face time with students at the school while they utilize the cloud to access lessons and assignments from home. Cloud computing helps to create truly modern, innovative classrooms.
An experienced cloud provider continually invests in the latest security technology—not only to respond to potential threats but also to enable customers to better meet their regulatory requirements.
Cloud computing services offer cloud security as part of their overall design across global data centre regions. Such a multilayer secure cloud approach offers security at the level school systems require.
Cloud computing makes the flexibility of remote learning possible. Students who are busy, non-traditional, or in remote locations no longer need to attend school physically. Cloud computing changes the education system in Nigerian schools by allowing students to expand their horizons. Students that do not want traditional learning systems are given the chance to explore the new concept of online education.
This is especially advantageous for students who want to opt for remote learning interstate. Teaching professionals who are looking to upgrade their skills can take virtual classes rather than conventional physical ones.
Last but definitely not least on this list, scalability addresses the problem of maximizing resources to meet demand. Cloud computing software helps to reduce costs associated with an increasing student population. No matter how many students you have or the higher education facilities you manage, your cloud system can grow alongside you. With cloud computing in Nigeria, schools can scale resources up or down to expand or reduce capacity as the school requires.
Cloud computing has so many use cases that are changing education in Nigeria. Cloud computing makes it easy for schools and universities to give students the modern standard of education they deserve.
It is an important responsibility for educational professionals to look deeply into the relevance of cloud computing in education. Administrators in Nigeria should access the current position of their schools and determine how best to implement cloud computing technologies.