Cloud computing adoption among state universities and colleges in the Philippines: Issues and challenges

The emergence of cloud computing (CC) adoption in higher education institutions (HEIs) is considered widespread today. Its growth comes with tremendous benefits and potential risks as well. This paper endeavors to investigate some issues and challenges that influence the adoption of cloud computing among state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines. A qualitative design was used in the study as it employed multiple case studies approach. Based on the results, this paper establishes two strong factors such as slow internet connection and lack of understanding or awareness of cloud computing. The findings revealed the impact of cloud computing to SUCs is found beneficial to the educational system amidst the global pandemic. Professors can easily upload lessons and teaching materials while students can easily access the materials online, though the challenge lies in the connectivity of internet in the country. Administrators can easily collaborate with the entire academic community and even to its stakeholder’s potential for collaboration even if not in face to face. It is a perfect avenue to be productive and efficient which allows all processes be made possible to all members of the entire academic community, may it be students, professors, staff and even other stakeholders

Students’ use of Cloud Storage in their Studies: A Case of a Private University in the Philippines

This paper seeks to determine factors affecting the students’ intention to use and actual use of the cloud storage systems such as Google Drive, iCloud and Microsoft One, etc. using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. The respondents are students of leading private universities in the Philippines and the data were analyzed using Partial Lease Square – Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM was conducted using SMART PLS software and the results showed that performance expectancy and social influence positively and significantly affects the intention to use cloud storage systems. Hence, the University should maintain its subscription of a cloud storage system and promote maximizing its use because large members of the academic community, the students, intend to use the cloud storage system as they perceive an increase in productivity of their schoolwork and due to increase by the community as well

The Ability of implementing Cloud Computing in Higher Education - KRG

Cloud computing is a new technology. CC is an online service can store and retrieve information, without the requirement for physical access to the files on hard drives. The information is available on a system, server where it can be accessed by clients when it’s needed. Lack of the ICT infrastructure of universities of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) can use  this new technology, because of economical advantages, enhanced data managements, better maintenance, high performance, improve availability and accessibility therefore achieving an easy maintenance  of organizational  institutes. The aim of this research is to find the ability and possibility to implement the cloud computing in higher education of the KRG. This research will help the universities to start establishing a cloud computing in their services. A survey has been conducted to evaluate the CC services that have been applied to KRG universities have by using cloud computing services. The results showed that the most of KRG universities are using SaaS. MHE-KRG universities and institutions are confronting many challenges and concerns in term of security, user privacy, lack of integration with current systems, and data and documents ownership

A Pattern Language for Designing Application-Level Communication Protocols and the Improvement of Computer Science Education through Cloud Computing

Networking protocols have been developed throughout time following layered architectures such as the Open Systems Interconnection model and the Internet model. These protocols are grouped in the Internet protocol suite. Most developers do not deal with low-level protocols, instead they design application-level protocols on top of the low-level protocol. Although each application-level protocol is different, there is commonality among them and developers can apply lessons learned from one protocol to the design of new ones. Design patterns can help by gathering and sharing proven and reusable solution to common, reoccurring design problems. The Application-level Communication Protocols Design Patterns language captures this knowledge about application-level protocol design, so developers can create better, more fitting protocols base on these common and well proven solutions. Another aspect of contemporary development technics is the need of distribution of software artifacts. Most of the development companies have started using Cloud Computing services to overcome this need; either public or private clouds are widely used. Future developers need to manage this technology infrastructure, software, and platform as services. These two aspects, communication protocols design and cloud computing represent an opportunity to contribute to the software development community and to the software engineering education curriculum. The Application-level Communication Protocols Design Patterns language aims to help solve communication software design. The use of cloud computing in programming assignments targets on a positive influence on improving the Analysis to Reuse skills of students of computer science careers

Mediating effects of perceived usefulness and trust between individual factors and intention to use E-training in Nigerian Technological Universities

Developments in information technology (IT) have offered universities some sophisticated technological tools and innovative training contents that can be used in delivering training to their employees. However, for successful IT integration in training, employees’ positive disposition towards the new system is vital. Although factors, including computer/Internet self-efficacy, interactivity, organisational support, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trust have been used in most studies that investigated technology acceptance, little is known about the effects of interactivity and trust on intention to use e-training. Therefore, this study empirically examines the roles of these factors in determining intention to use e-training within the context of Nigerian technological universities using the technology acceptance model (TAM). Data were collected from 301 employees of five technological universities in Nigeria and partial least squares - structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used in the analysis. Findings of the study reveal that interactivity and trust constructs have positively and significantly influenced employees’ intention to use e-training systems. Additionally, perceived usefulness and trust are found to have mediated the relationship between individual factors and intention to use e-training. The Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) result shows that to predict intention to use e-training in Nigerian technological universities, priorities should be accorded to trust and organisational support. Theoretically, the study has contributed to the understanding of factors affecting intention to use e-training demonstrating the applicability as well as effectiveness of interactivity and trust in predicting intention to use e-training. Methodologically, the study has established the relevance of conducting Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) in examining intention to use e-training. Practically, the study provides new inputs for successful implementation of e-training systems in universities. It is recommended that future studies investigate the influence of other factors such as subjective norm, enjoyment, and appeal on the intention to use e-training

Using software as a service to support the academic activities of students in higher education institutions with a relative lack of resources

The contribution of Software as a Service (SaaS) towards improved access to software, cost reduction, better quality of learning and enhanced communication and collaboration in higher education institutions (HEIs) cannot be over emphasised. Some HEIs are faced with issues such as tight budget, lack of needed software, inadequate human resources and lack of adequate infrastructure. This research refers to such HEIs as those with a relative lack of resources because the resources intended for a single student are often shared among ten or more students. Hence many students are unable to cope with their academic activities and some end up failing or even dropping out. Finding alternative ways to provide the necessary software for students is therefore a priority for HEIs with a relative lack of resources. SaaS offers a possible alternative for them and it is gaining their attention. The goal of this research was to empower HEIs, their students, lecturers and Information Technology (IT) staff by providing them with a better understanding of SaaS and to provide them with a tool to manage the adoption and implementation of SaaS. Also, the intention was to make practical, theoretical and methodological contributions to the scientific body of knowledge in the area of Software as a Service. To achieve the goals, this research investigated the use of SaaS in HEIs with a relative lack of resources and found SaaS to be effective in providing wider access to software for students in HEIs with a relative lack of resources. This research also identified benefits and limitations of SaaS and how SaaS can help in addressing the barriers to learning and contribute towards the creation of a conducive learning environment for students. The different SaaS offerings available for education and the issues and contradictions associated with the use of SaaS in HEIs were also identified. Furthermore, a set of propositions and an integrated framework were developed using the data from the literature, books, institutional documents and interview data. Although HEIs are continuously introducing SaaS offerings into their academic activities and SaaS promises to improve the learning experience of students in HEIs by improving access to software, improving the sharing of documents and files, improving collaboration as well as communication, this research found that the use of SaaS by students in HEIs is still relatively low and uncovered the reasons for this. The HEIs in Nigeria and South Africa were used as exemplars and the problems they face with regards to resource availability were identified using the activity theory (AT) as a theoretical lens. The Astin’s IEO model and the Students involvement theory were also used to explain some issues relating to the importance of student participation in academic activities involving the use of SaaS. Although the study was focused on students, data from lecturers and IT staff was used for triangulation to increase the credibility and validity of the data obtained from the students. This research found that students believe that SaaS can improve their learning experience and there is an unwavering support for the campus wide implementation of SaaS among students. In the Nigerian HEIs, software piracy was found to be a major problem as students cannot afford to buy the original software needed for academic activities. Another major finding from the Nigerian HEIs is the rampant claims that corruption affects the implementation of SaaS and other ICT initiatives as funds meant for implementation are often diverted for personal gains. In both Nigeria and South Africa, this research found that there is limited or no internet access in some areas and the students who come from such areas are unable to access SaaS from home. This limits their ability to enjoy the anytime, anywhere access advantage of SaaS. This research concluded by suggesting the need for the government and education institutions to provide training for learners and encourage them to be computer literate from an early stage as this could improve their confidence in using technologies such as SaaS when they get to higher education level