A survey on recent applications of cloud computing in education: COVID-19 perspective

Abstract

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in recent times, almost all countries have been affected in a drastic way, impacting delivery mode of education in world everywhere. Several schools, colleges and universities are under lockdown or have been forced to provide online education. To meet the existing challenges due to COVID-19, it has become highly critical that educational institutes become more efficient in virtual delivery of quality teaching services. In here, cloud computing provides an excellent platform for educators to improve their teaching practices and productivity. Cloud computing presents an ideal opportunity as it not only saves costs, but also power, due to the simultaneous usage of infrastructure by several stakeholders for the purposes of teaching, learning, and research. This is a short survey paper which explores the applicability of cloud computing within the context of educational settings. It also describes a few applications such as cloud rendering, gamification and collaborative e-learning technologies. In the end, a few challenges have also been presented.