Decentralized e-learning Environment Using Cloud Computing Models

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233 Volume 4, Number 1

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Agon Memeti1, Betim Çiço2

South East European University - Tetovo, Macedonia1, 2. [email protected] 1

[email protected] 2

Decentralized e-Learning Environment Using Cloud

Computing Models

Abstract

With the new Cloud computing technology applications and infrastructure development and access advantage in terms of efficiency, reliability, portability and flexibility. This paper presents a cloud computing based solution for building a decentralized learning environment for Universities with their existing infrastructure, or not by providing better: Mobile, decentralized and just in time learning; cost effective; speed of implementation and updating; virtualization; easy to monitor data access; latest dependency on IT department.

As in every institution also in education it is presenting a positive impact while University services are operating for the exclusive use, enabling their own users (learners, instructors, and administrators) to perform their tasks effectively with less cost by utilizing the available cloud based application offered by the cloud service providers.

Keywords: Cloud Computing, Efficiency, Reliability, Portability, Flexibility, Virtual Platform, Infrastructure.

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Introduction

Cloud computing is the technology which is growing rapidly, with applications in almost any area, including education for greater agility and cost efficiency in management of digital information of any organization or company, through a simple and flexible implementation. Essentially, cloud computing is the management and provision of applications, information and data as a service. These services are provided through the “cloud” to often in a consumption-based model, a concept that will be discussed later.

Dramatic advances in computing power, storage, and networking technology have allowed the human race to generate, process, and share increasing amounts of information in dramatically new ways. As new applications of computing technology are developed and introduced, these applications are often used in ways that their designers never envisioned. New applications, in turn, lead to new demands for even more powerful computing infrastructure. [1]

E-learning systems, also research labs usually require many hardware and software resources. These systems need to improve its infrastructure, which can devote the required computation and storage resources for these systems.

The proposed platform: implementing University services in the cloud can be will be operated for the exclusive use, enabling their own users (learners, instructors, and administrators) to perform their tasks effectively with less cost by utilizing the available cloud based application offered by the cloud service providers.

2 the management and provision of applications, information and data as a service. These services are

provided through the "cloud” to often in a consumption-based model, a concept that will be discussed

later.

Dramatic advances in computing power, storage, and networking technology have allowed the

human race to generate, process, and share increasing amounts of information in dramatically new ways.

As new applications of computing technology are developed and introduced, these applications are often

used in ways that their designers never envisioned. New applications, in turn, lead to new demands for

even more powerful computing infrastructure. [1]

Figure 1. Cloud Computing Scheme

E-learning systems, also research labs usually require many hardware and software resources. These

systems need to improve its infrastructure, which can devote the required computation and storage

resources for these systems.

The proposed platform: implementing University services in the cloud can be will be operated for the

exclusive use, enabling their own users (learners, instructors, and administrators) to perform their tasks

effectively with less cost by utilizing the available cloud based application offered by the cloud service

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Considering that every University is designed on closed and isolated system interface due to the specific requirements that faculty needs to offer to students and faculty staff as a service. The isolation as a term in this case must be understood as an opened system interface whereas students and faculty staff have more freedom and opened resources to achieve their lab activities, duties and services that the faculty may requires to implement and organize during the academics year.

Figure 2 shows the technology system design for student desktop environment. Students are accessing the system using desktop environment whereas all the processing and computing is done on a local server. Client is connected directly on the access switch and from the switch directly on the server, but the idea is using the laboratories and services in a decentralized environment and have access whenever is needed. Such usability is offered by Cloud computing models.

Using Cloud computing models has a steep learning curve for the whole organization, for students, staff and administrators. Although highly scalable, with possibility for installing at a number of sites, it seems that the work needed to install and maintain large stage deployments is too big, and significant labor would be needed, in terms of both time and skills. There is a need of more than average level of skills required for installing, managing, and using a private or a piece of public cloud (only how University need).

3 Considering that every University is designed on closed and isolated system interface due to the specific requirements that faculty needs to offer to students and faculty staff as a service. The isolation as a term in this case must be understood as an opened system interface whereas students and faculty staff have more freedom and opened resources to achieve their lab activities, duties and services that the faculty may requires to implement and organize during the academics year.

Figure 2. Topology System Design

Figure 2 shows the technology system design for student desktop environment. Students are accessing the system using desktop environment whereas all the processing and computing is done on a local server. Client is connected directly on the access switch and from the switch directly on the server, but the idea is using the laboratories and services in a decentralized environment and have access whenever is needed. Such usability is offered by Cloud computing models.

Using Cloud computing models has a steep learning curve for the whole organization, for students, staff and administrators. Although highly scalable, with possibility for installing at a number of sites, it seems that the work needed to install and maintain large stage deployments is too big, and significant labor would be needed, in terms of both time and skills. There is a need of more than average level of

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Cloud Service Models

Services offered by the “cloud” are distributed among all traditional architectural layers a computer system, from the hardware layer to application layer software itself and are grouped into three categories:

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) - allowing the use of a hardware computing resources as a service provider also allows customers to purchase hardware resources (servers, storage, switches, routers, etc) as if it were fully outsourced services.

• PaaS (Platform as a Service) - provide all the components necessary for creating a new software application, offering a service that normally integrates environment development and application programming interface, or Application Programming English Interface.

• SaaS (Software as a Service) - Virtualized applications can be moved onto different hardware extremely quickly in response to increased demand and also shares the other standard advantages: easy backups, flexible pricing, and portability.

Types of Clouds

There are several models for the systems that make use of the paradigm of Cloud Computing. The idea is choosing the appropriate model to solve a specific problem.

The private cloud is established for a specific group or organization and limits access to just that group. Private clouds are built exclusively for a single enterprise. They aim to address concerns on data security and offer greater control, which is typically lacking in a public cloud. [2]

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Figure 4. Cloud Computing Platforms

The private cloud is established for a specific group or organization and limits access to just that group. Private clouds are built exclusively for a single enterprise. They aim to address concerns on data security and offer greater control, which is typically lacking in a public cloud. [2]

The name public cloud refers to the standard model of Cloud Computing which the service is available to anyone on the Internet infrastructure (its software or hardware) free or by paying certain amount related to the volume or time of use thereof, while the Hybrid Cloud model is the combination of the two models described above so that the advantage of physical location of the information managed by exploits private clouds with the ease of expanding public cloud resources.

Cloud Computing for e-Learning

E-learning includes all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process. This often involves both out-of-classroom and in-classroom educational experiences via technology, even as advances continue about devices and curriculum. Abbreviations like CBT (Computer-Based Training), IBT (Internet-Based Training), or WBT (Web-Based Training) have been

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The name public cloud refers to the standard model of Cloud Computing which the service is available to anyone on the Internet infrastructure (its software or hardware) free or by paying certain amount related to the volume or time of use thereof, while the Hybrid Cloud model is the combination of the two models described above so that the advantage of physical location of the information managed by exploits private clouds with the ease of expanding public cloud resources.

Cloud Computing for e-Learning

E-learning includes all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process. This often involves both out-of-classroom and in-classroom educational experiences via technology, even as advances continue about devices and curriculum. Abbreviations like CBT (Computer-Based Training), IBT (Internet-Based Training), or WBT (Web-Based Training) have been used as synonyms to e-learning. [3]

Taking in consideration that current e-learning systems are not scalable and do not lead to the efficient utilization of the resources. As a response to this increase in pressure and to increase the efficiency and availability of their current e-learning system, the educational institutes may adopt a service-oriented approach.

These models are designed for networked information and communications technology (ICT) for teaching and learning, its growth increased directly related to the increasing access to ICT, where the ICT systems serve as specific media to implement the learning process. Student’s learning is no longer confined within the classroom; the environment of ICT could help the student to access learning resources anywhere. E-learning represents the computer and network-enabled to transfer skills and knowledge to other using the control of e-learn administrator of the teachers providing the university staff, students, and IT managements with many high points (efficiency, reliability, portability, flexibility, and security) to enhance their knowledge and education..

Proposed Decentralized Platform

Taking in consideration that the desktop computer is on the verge of extinction, computer labs are almost always associated with the desktop computer, and our solution will provide effective usage of resources, scalability, on-demand service and also a low cost solution to the University Data Center, starting by:

• Services and support to a wide range of users.

• A wide-range of course materials and academic support tools to instructors, teachers, professors, and other educators and university staff.

• Research level computational systems and services in support of the research mission of the university.

• With these requirements, the major challenges of planning a cloud computing solution in a higher educational, research-oriented institute involves following factors:

• -Excellent resource utilization depending on different user demands • -Variety of diverse service environments

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• Decentralized learning

• SaaS platform where students can communicate with each other and with lecturer in a specific course and find all SEEU services.

• The new economic normally. Computer hardware is expensive to buy, to maintain, and to keep current.

The system will provide:

Better student experience – Is important that the present desktop virtualization for the labs that is in use to be upgraded so the students to gain a much better and performing environment that allows a much wider utilization of applications. Deployment of a Fortieth LAB – the new upgraded server infrastructure can accommodate a networking and security lab that will enable the professors of faculty to create a very comprehensive curriculum about security, security practices, and defense against cyber threats.

Deployment of more advanced simulation solution – the new virtual environment can accommodate new simulation solutions like

• MatLAB - for data processing, data analysis, advanced mathematics computation, signal processing, and control systems

• National Instruments Multisim - for high-level electronics simulations, FPGA programming.

•

Security research – safe code practices are vital for secure IT infrastructures, so by researching into advanced hacking techniques like fizzing, memory injection, and 7 - Excellent resource utilization depending on different user demands

- Variety of diverse service environments

- Operating cloud infrastructure as an economically viable model • Decentralized learning

• SaaS platform where students can communicate with each other and with lecturer in a specific course and find all SEEU services.

• The new economic normally. Computer hardware is expensive to buy, to maintain, and to keep current.

Figure 4. Proposed University Platform in the CLOUD The system will provide:

Better student experience – Is important that the present desktop virtualization for the labs that is in use to be upgraded so the students to gain a much better and performing environment that allows a much wider utilization of applications.

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buffer overflows … can enable the professors to have more data, publish materials, identify 0 day exploits and provide a very well security minded curriculum to the students.

High computing – By redesigning and increasing the capabilities of the high performance, cluster is possible to perform new experiments in the grid research, high distributed computing, mathematical simulation, signal processing, computer programming algorithms research.

Conclusion

As Cloud is a trend nowadays, considering that many businesses studying their business strategy find cloud computing as the best solution for their information technology part. Going on cloud computing can save a lot of money, because there are many factors that have a high cost and which cloud computing we can reduce them to nearly zero, for Universities also it is a greater solution by having services in time and with a low cost.

This research paper is a new approach to produce a solution for old problems, offers many benefits to universities. We have tried to show that the Cloud Computing can also be used for universities such as accessing the file storages, e-mails, databases, educational resources, research applications, and tools anywhere for faculty, administrators, staff, students, and other users in university, on demand. A few universities already started cloud computing technology for educational use. The main goal of suggested prototype is; managing effectively the technological needs of universities such as delivery of software, providing of development platform, storage of data, and computing.

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REFERENCES

[1] M. Dominic et al. Mapping of e-learning Components to Cloud Computing. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology. 2012

[2] T. Harris, “Cloud Computing – An Overview”, SOA.

[3] Bora Utpal, Ahmed Majidul,” E-Learning using Cloud Computing”, International Journal of Science and Modern Engineering, 2013.

[4] Fazlollahtabar Hamed, Abbasi Ali,”A Computer Integrated Framework for E-learning Control Systems Based on Data Flow Diagrams”, Journal of Control Engineering and Technology (JCET),2012

[5] Zheng Hua, “A Virtual Learning Community Based on Cloud Computing and Web 2.0”, IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, 2012

[6] M. Lawanya Shri , S. Subha, “AN IMPLEMENTATION OF ELEARNING SYSTEM IN PRIVATE CLOUD”, International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 2012 [7] University of Alaska Office of Information Technology, “Cloud Computing Guidelines”, 2012

[8] Paul POCATILU, “Cloud Computing Benefits for E-learning Solutions”, Economics of Knowledge, 2010

[9] Masud Hossain Anwar, Huang Xiaodi, “An E-learning System Architecture based on Cloud Computing”, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 2012