ERIC EJ1074102: Private Cloud Communities for Faculty and Students

2015·0.31 MB·English

by  ERIC

34 Global Education Review 3(2)

Private Cloud Communities for Faculty and Students

Daniel R. Tomal
Concordia University Chicago

Cynthia Grant
University of Colorado-Denver

Abstract
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and public and private cloud communities continue to flourish in
the field of higher education. However, MOOCs have received criticism in recent years and offer little
benefit to students already enrolled at an institution. This article advocates for the collaborative creation
and use of institutional, program or student-specific private cloud communities developed as a way to
promote academic identity, information dissemination, social discourse, and to form a bridge between
faculty, administration and students. Concrete steps to build a private cloud are described. Placing a
greater emphasis on meeting the needs of enrolled students versus engaging the masses in a MOOC for
“edutainment” purposes is recommended.

Keywords
cloud, online learning, learning platforms, educational technology, technology instruction, virtual
communities, cloud computing

MOOCs Versus Private Cloud Public and private cloud communities,
including massive open online courses
Communities
(MOOCs), continue to flourish in the field of
According to the Educause Center for Applied
higher education (Glancy, et al., 2013; Mazoue,
Research, students expect their instructors to
2013). A variety of open online courses have
use technology in the learning process and
attracted students from around the world to
believe technology is “critical to academic
allow convenient and low-cost means to access
success” (Dahlstrom 2012, p. 19). However the
education. Many of the top universities have
time, resources, and energy required for these
introduced open-education and allowed the
basic supports are limited. Institutions must be
sharing of intellectual content (Mazoue, 2013).
strategic about whether and how they deliver
Yet MOOCs have been receiving
information to paying students, as well as to
criticism in recent years. There is greater
those who may access academic resources at no
______________________________
charge. The delicate balance of public versus
Corresponding Author:
private access to higher education requires
Daniel R. Tomal, College of Graduate and Innovative
strategic pedagogical investments by academic Programs, Concordia University Chicago,
institutions. 7400 Augusta St., River Forest, IL 60305
Email: [email protected]
Global Education Review is a publication of The School of Education at Mercy College, New York. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited. Citation: Tomal, Daniel R. & Grant, Cynthia (2015). Private cloud communities for faculty and students. Global Education Review, 2(3).

34-45
Private Cloud Communities 35

awareness of the difference between the open access online resource, a private cloud
“edutainment” associated with a MOOC, and the operates within a firewall and offers a more
experience of demonstrable learning that takes intimate way for students to build a social
place in a higher education classroom with connection.
students who are aiming to attain a degree. The critical nature of social connection in
MOOCs offer a public access platform to deliver an online community is well documented in
pre-recorded information in an online format to higher education. Increased engagement in
thousands of people at the same time. The learning occurs through online connections
median average enrollment in a MOOC is 42,844 between students and faculty when there is a
students (Jordan, 2014), while the commonly shared intellectual pursuit (Lambert & Fisher,
cited completion rate of all students who enroll 2013). Benefits include academic success,
in a MOOC is less than 10% (Rivard, 2013). retention (Boston et al., 2009) and decreased
These public access courses are often created by social isolation (Delahunty, Verenikna, & Jones,
an institution’s academic “celebrity” (Shea, 2014). The content and management of this type
2014) or “superprofessor” (Rees, 2013), and of online community is privately owned and
draw non-academic students who often already managed (in this case, by the academic
hold a college degree. These “courses” do not institution). A private cloud community can
function as a true college level course (i. e. one take many shapes. Examples may include a
that is carefully connected to a systematic program Facebook page, a LinkedIn group for a
development of student learning outcomes), but college within an institution, or a Wiki for a
may be a way to market an institution. course. One useful way to design and implement
Despite the current trend in open online a cloud is through the use of password-protected
course delivery, many institutions (especially online resources available only to enrolled
those who would be unable to attract “masses”) students. We propose the creation of a private
do not need a MOOC, at least not as it currently cloud as a way to promote academic identity,
stands as a showcase for upper tier institutions information dissemination, social discourse, and
with ample funding to support its creation, to form a bridge between faculty, administration
marketing, and implementation. Additionally, and students.
students who are already enrolled in higher The use of online platforms is the
education rarely benefit from them. A MOOC predominant medium for disseminating
seldom offers course credit or an incentive for information to a wide group of stakeholders in
participation among students who are already higher education. Historically, traditional online
enrolled at a higher education institution. For technologies have been dependent on digital
students who are paying for their education with experts with coding and web-creation expertise.
the goal to graduate with an academic degree, a However, the current era of web technologies are
private learning community that is tailored to collaborative, user-friendly, and typically involve
their needs may be a much better fit to aid their combined resources across disciplines. Thus,
experience. the dependence on technological experts to
The use of private cloud communities in create a web page is diminishing. Table 1
higher education is a pedagogical resource that reflects the transition from traditional
can be designed and implemented based on the technologies to the current landscape of online
needs of the institution, a specific educational pedagogies now available to academic
program or track, or target population of institutions.
students. Unlike a public community that is an
36 Global Education Review 2(3)

Table 1 Transitions to current online technologies in higher education

Traditional Technologies Current Online Technologies
Required technological and web design Requires minimal involvement by
expertise information technologies staff
Individual expert input Collaborative expertise
Copyrighted content and process Open source options
High cost Low to no cost
Content driven by administrators Student and program based content

With this model, greater emphasis is management systems (LMS). The LMS can
placed on meeting the needs of enrolled house the development and delivery of a cloud
students, as opposed to attempting to engage the community for students and is the starting point
masses in a MOOC for edutainment purposes. It for building this resource within an institution.
allows us to shift focus from the academic Each LMS requires a systems administrator to
publicity attached to MOOCs, to resources that be the lead developer, designer, and supervisor
can be used to increase the responsibility of of the system. In most cases the systems
education management from the student to the administrator will be the point of contact and
institution. Private cloud communities can be gatekeeper for building a cloud community.
created on a small or large scale. For example, Therefore, it is imperative that the person
an institution may decide to design a private spearheading a cloud initiative establish a
virtual community for each academic major in relationship with this person prior to moving
an undergraduate setting or for student forward with discussions at the institutional
populations such as Veterans or parenting level.
students; masters-level programs may elect to The systems administrator is responsible
create a cloud community for program for providing technical leadership and
concentrations, while doctoral programs might operational support for the learning
use private clouds for the dissertation management system, including system
experience. Each of these clouds would contain configuration, content migration and end-user
different content and would be aimed at a support. The administrator interfaces directly
different target audience, yet their development with the learning management system parent
and functioning would have similar qualities, as company (e. g., Blackboard, Sakai, Moodle,
described here. Canvas, Desire2Learn) and campus stakeholders
to define and ensure successful technical
Step One: Identify technological implementation and delivery of information to
students and faculty. This person is a technical
supports available from the
resource who is most likely responsible for
institution
developing strategies for evaluating, integrating,
At most institutions, private cloud communities
are a fundamental aspect of learning
Private Cloud Communities 37

and supporting web technologies such as a cloud Learning management systems operate
community. using a secure password-protected Internet
To begin the exploration of this process, connection. In most cases, registered students
the program leadership team might first meet must login through the institution’s website to
with the LMS systems administrator to discuss access their account. A private cloud can be
the idea of how to deploy academic content to designed specifically within an institution so that
degree seeking students, regardless of whether it is only available to designated users. Since
students are attending classes online or face-to- information is stored in ‘the cloud,’ there are no
face. Due to the prevalence of LMS use, using hardware or server maintenance costs, making
the existing platform that is already in place for the service a sound, strategic pedagogical
91% of institutions in America is an obvious investment for institutions to adopt.
starting point. However, it is also possible to Learning management systems are
build publicly accessible virtual communities in reported to be easy to manage and require less
other open source cloud based tools, such as overhead expense to administer. Many do not
Google Drive, Box, or Microsoft OneDrive. charge fees on a per user basis (Harrison 2012),
The systems administrator can meet with making it affordable to both large and small
faculty to brainstorm preliminary ideas institutions. In some cases, the LMS may charge
regarding what one hopes to accomplish for the add-on packages, such as those allowing
pedagogically using technology. In the for synchronous, recordable video chats. While
beginning stages of planning, the phrase “cloud these features are highly beneficial, they require
computing” may a foreign concept to the team, a more advanced, time-consuming level of
which will likely be comprised of faculty who are interactivity and should only be considered if
unfamiliar with instructional technology. funds are available.
However, the systems administrator should have For institutions that already have an LMS
a good grasp on how to explain the availability of in place, there is likely to be no additional
information technology resources with the overhead cost related to the use of the existing
campus. platform given that most of the major vendors
already have this option built into the LMS
Step Two: Identify costs (if any) to package used by the institution. Thus a project
such as this is likely to be administratively
establish a virtual cloud
approved due to the lack of additional operating
community within the LMS
expenses.
There is a fair amount of diversity in the
However, if an institution must invest in
availability, performance, and reliability of
purchasing add-on capabilities to create a virtual
course and learning management systems used
community in an existing LMS, or if human
in higher education. Yet, regardless of the
resources (i.e. the systems administrator) must
system selected for use at a particular
be devoted to build the community, a cost-
institution, LMS platforms are universally
benefit analysis of the development of the cloud-
flexible, customizable to the needs of the
based community would be helpful to make a
institution, and affordable.
case for adding this feature (see Table 2).
Private Cloud Communities 38

Table 2 Cost-benefit analysis of a private cloud-based community

Costs Benefits
1. Equipment (hardware, software) 1. Reduced costs of leadership time
TC E 2. Communication to students and 2. Better coordination of learning experience
E L faculty 3. Reduced operating costs (e.g., decreased
R B
ID IG 3. Project development time spent by administrative offices
N
A a. Internal staff providing forms and explaining procedures)
T
b. Consultants 4. Expanded pedagogical coverage
c. Expenses for data entry
1. Improved institutional identity
1. Anxiety related to use of
T information technology 2. Greater clarity for candidates and faculty
C
E E regarding the program process
R L 2. Faculty time spent providing
I B 3. Increased communication across institutions
D I resources to build cloud-
G
N 4. Nurture relationships
I N community
A 5. Expand development of independent research
T 3. Necessary updates to cloud-based
6. Universal of information to all students and
resource database
faculty

Step Three: Develop the audiovisual services available on campus to
assist, or faculty can record brief, professional
homepage for the cloud
introductory clips using programs such as
community
Windows Live Movie Maker or iMovie. Most
Once administrative approval has been granted
smartphones allow for the creation of videos that
to develop the cloud, faculty and students should
can be uploaded to YouTube and then inserted
think through key content that could be included
on the homepage.
on the program or student specific cloud
Alternately, consider posting faculty
community. First and foremost, focus on the
profiles and photographs of key people involved
homepage to ground the audience and to set the
with students. The ability to “see” program,
tone and identity for the private community at
departmental faculty and administration is an
the institution. A video welcome is strongly
easy way to help nurture relationships through
recommended to bring to life the web-based
web technology. A well-developed private cloud
connection to leadership within the program or
may even have student specific introductions to
undergraduate and/or graduate school. The
foster student-level connections. These steps
video clip should be short and offer an
help personalize an academic experience in a
introduction to the key faculty within the
way that cannot be accomplished in a MOOC.
program and to orient the viewer to the cloud
Contact information is a necessity and can
community. The institution may have
all be placed in a column on the home page.
Private Cloud Communities 39

Students and faculty should know exactly where sources can easily and regularly be updated or
to call, where to click, and where to go for replaced. Announcements could contain real-
administrative issues relative to the scope of the time news regarding students who have
cloud; this may include program advising, successfully completed work, received awards or
financial aid, and registration information. recognition, secured employment, or acceptance
Some LMS platforms will connect directly to into advanced graduate programs. Cloud
registration and email systems so that users can communities that are housed through the
more readily access these services from the institution’s LMS are password-protected and
cloud. offer a greater level of security and privacy than
If real-time chat is available through the social media outlets. Thus, the community cloud
LMS, consider posting a link to “chat live” with is an excellent place to promote
program advisers or faculty during certain accomplishments of students while they are still
business or office hours. Faculty do not need to connected to the institution.
be tethered to their computer screens during this Similarly, newsletters, bulletins, or blogs
time, but can have notifications sent to their related to an institution, program, or college
smartphones or instant message alerts to let would be other appropriate documents or links
them know someone would like to connect with to post on the home page. Of added benefit, the
them. In most cases these chat sessions can be very nature of using web-based links on a cloud-
recorded and archived for future student use. based virtual community is that any time public
These connections offer personalized support to websites are updated (i.e., a departmental blog
registered students, with the potential for or website), the link within the cloud will
improving their connection to an institution. automatically update as well.
Documents containing frequently asked
questions (FAQ’s) are helpful to post on the Step Four: Develop an
home page. For example, the development of
organizational plan for the cloud
FAQ information sheets for topics in a doctoral
The homepage serves as a landing page for basic
program such as the comprehensive exam,
information and contacts related to the program
elements of the dissertation proposal, and
of study or student population. Begin to think
graduation requirements can be posted. This can
about categories of information to include in the
help build a community of learners and support
cloud-based community. In most LMS
open sharing across the institution and
platforms, these categories will serve as a table
community. Other topics might include writing
of contents or navigation page for the user. Each
samples, student counseling resources, and
cloud community will have different content and
program-specific commonly asked questions.
organizational categories. A sample list of
Announcements are another logical
categorical tabs for a cloud designed for Veteran
category to place on the home page for the cloud.
students is listed in Table 3 alongside a potential
The nature of cloud-based computing is that
organization for doctoral students.
text, documents, RSS feeds, and other media
40 Global Education Review 2(3)

Table 3 Sample categories for cloud tabs based on targeted student community

Student Veteran Cloud Categories Doctoral Program Cloud Categories
Student home page Student home page
Veteran education benefits Writing resources
The Yellow Ribbon Program Research help
Student Veteran groups Dissertation proposal
Advising for Military and Veteran students Program timeline
Counseling resources Program forms
Writing lab Comprehensive Exam
Math Lab Dissertation Defense

Additional tabs can be added or re- assignments, and meeting program
arranged by the systems administrator or the expectations.
instructional designer of an institutionally based
cloud-community. Who can help build a cloud
Experienced faculty members know all too
community?
well the repeated questions and confusion
It would be best if one faculty member
experienced by students, whether related to
(preferably a program coordinator or
academic advising and graduation requirements,
department chair) is designated as the resource
the transition from military to college life, the
collector for the assembly of materials to be
comprehensive exam and more. The importance
placed on the cloud. This person should be the
of developing a strong organizational plan of
point of contact for gathering materials,
information to be included on the cloud is
evaluating their appropriateness in relation to
intended to decrease the burden placed on
the content focus of the cloud community, to cull
faculty so that a large amount of reliable, useful
out duplicate submissions from various faculty
information can be disseminated and shared
members, and to serve as a point of contact for
with others.
future requests to add resources.

Using the organizational plan developed in
Step Five: Gather materials for
Step Four, determine who would be a good
the cloud source for sharing information regarding each of
One of the great benefits of developing a virtual the tabs to be included in the cloud database.
cloud community is the ability to filter relevant, Program leaders may want to send out a group
timely, and useful information that can be email to faculty, staff, and current students with
shared among faculty and students in one an explanation of the purpose of a private virtual
collegial place. An extensive, rich pool of cloud community for the programs, and a list of
information exists on the web that is waiting to the main categories. This email should include a
be found. Yet students may be unaware of these request to share web-based links that may be
resources and need assistance in determining useful for others to access or other personal
their reliability and relevance. Faculty who materials they are willing to share.
provide materials for the cloud can guide The email request to faculty should
students towards scholarly resources relevant to include the organizational plan of categories that
writing of papers, completing course will be used to create the cloud. Request for best
Private Cloud Communities 41

practices, sentinel articles or references, helpful specific forms, institutional resources, and web-
websites, video tutorials, or databases are based publicly available materials.
recommended. Faculty holds valuable expertise Program-specific forms are ideal materials
that can be used and shared by others to aid in to place on the cloud. Documents of this nature
the successful completion of a degree program. may include forms for faculty and students
Staff involved with writing assistance relevant to a degree program such as contact or
available at the institution, statistical tutoring, or intake forms, enrollment or course completion
programmatic issues are excellent sources of forms, program sheets, and other administrative
information and should be solicited for input as documents specific to the institution. If these
well. For example, the library or media center forms are available on an institution’s main
may have templates available to aid with writing portal, the systems administration may be able
issues; a tutoring center on campus may have to link the cloud to the portal so that any
decision trees available for choosing statistical updates to the forms will automatically update
tests needed when preparing graduate theses on the cloud. Using the cloud community to
and dissertations. Either of these store program documents can reduce the
institutionally- based resources can be amount of administrative time devoted to
disseminated to a much broader student base if sending notices and paperwork to students and
they are posted on a cloud. Since the cloud is faculty. It also ensures that faculty and students
private within the LMS, the authors do not need will have access to the most current and
to be concerned about the distribution of necessary forms whenever they are needed.
institution specific materials to non-registered Institutional resources are unique to each
students. institution of higher education and to each
Current students can be an excellent department offering programs and degrees; they
source for sharing timely resources and are also some of the most valuable resources
materials that have been useful for their own available to students preparing term papers,
academic journey—some of which may be theses and research papers. Resources might be
unexpected and could possibly expand the pre- provided to students regarding the institution’s
determined categories. In one such case, content and structure guide for theses and
students recommended sites for reference research papers, and/or a form-and-style guide
management software such as Mendeley, End specific to writing within a discipline. If these
Note, and Zotero, that the leadership team had resources do not yet exist, links to academic and
not previously thought to include. research writing guides and publications
available online may be reviewed and selected as
What to include in a private cloud exemplars to provide direction for the student.
Content and structure guides are publicly
community
available online and could be added to a cloud-
The database of information to be placed on the
computing database of resources. Some guides
virtual cloud community will encompass a
are generalizable and can be applied across
compendium of resources gathered by faculty,
disciplines. A web search for “guidelines for
staff, and students—most of which will be
writing research papers and theses” yields many
directly linked to the resource itself that is
options available as a PDF. Instructor-created
available fully online to avoid copyright
resources and handouts that are typically
infringement. Information to be included
distributed in person may be shared with a much
typically falls into three categories: program-
broader audience in the cloud-community.
Private Cloud Communities 42
Existing faculty-developed materials can be Standard practice at most graduate
scanned and placed online, while still institutions is to have a public defense of the
maintaining the integrity of the original author thesis or dissertation. Universities that record
and affiliation with the institution. thesis and dissertation defenses using web
A final recommended institutional and conference sharing programs can post web-
discipline specific resource for the private cloud based links to the defenses on the virtual cloud
could be sample papers and work of recent community to make them available for viewing
students or graduates. For example, graduate at a later date. Similarly, student-led meetings
level students’ manuscripts can often be and organizations may opt to offer the meeting
retrieved through Open Thesis and Proquest through a web-conferencing program to reach a
Dissertations and Theses, and can be extremely broader or targeted audience. Sharing a link on
helpful for other graduate students to see an internal, password-protected site expands
examples of distinctive work completed by access to these events and serve to introduce
people who have recently graduated from the students to institutional processes and
same program of study. Similarly, course papers opportunities.
at the undergraduate level can offer scaffolded Depending on the source material
learning for diverse students to set minimum gathered for inclusion in the cloud, additional
expectations at an institution. Program directors sub-headings will naturally evolve to be listed
or chairpersons may want to select a handful of under each categorical tab. For example, Table 4
exemplary papers or theses that can serve as a illustrates the possible expanded categories for a
model for other students and post them with graduate-level cloud program.
their author’s consent.

Table 4 Expanded graduate-level cloud categories

Home Resources Writing Resources
Welcome Institutional Resources Writing Tools and Tips
Introductory Video Sample Forms Institutional Form and Style Guide
Program Newsletter Directories Writing Manuals
Program FAQ Self-Management Resources Literature Review
Courses Exam FAQ Study Skills Resources Citation Resources
Department Website Learning Resources Writing Term Papers
Forms Research Help Program Support
Institution Forms Qualitative Inquiry Program Guides
Department Forms Qualitative Analysis Recommended Books
Program Forms Quantitative Inquiry Consultant Database
Drop/Add Form Quantitative Analysis Support Group
Admission and Completion Forms Mixed Methods Program Requirements
Other Resources Sampling in Research Critical Due Dates
Program Resources Survey Research Tools Matriculation Sources
Institutional Social Media Action Research Guidelines Credit Versus Non-Credit
Common Literature Resources Program Evaluation Materials Graduation Support
Private Cloud Communities 43

How to make the cloud “live” for  Are there a variety of media on the
students and faculty virtual cloud-community to make it appealing
to users? (e.g. videos, tutorials, RSS feeds,
Once resources have been gathered, organized,
Word/PDF documents, photos)
and cataloged, the resource collector will need to
re-establish contact with the institution’s Once these items are verified, it is time to
systems administrator so that the technological make the community available to intended users
aspect of building a cloud within the LMS may within the institution’s LMS. As previously
begin. In most cases the system administrator mentioned, administration will need to
will be responsible for the technology and determine the audience for who should have
structural framework of the cloud, while the access to the community. Since this article
individual responsible for the content will have focuses on a virtual cloud-community that is
access and training to maintain the information built into the institution’s LMS, and since all
available on the virtual community. faculty and candidates have access to the LMS,
Depending on the ease of use of the LMS, administration will need to make decisions
it may be possible for the resource collector to about who will be allowed to access the
upload web links and documents directly based community. For example, if the cloud-
on the materials shared by others involved in community has been created strictly for
contributing to the virtual cloud-community. undergraduate students who are parents, a self-
Alternately, the resource collector may need to identified group of students may be granted
send all files and links to the system access, perhaps through the approval of a group
administrator to build the community. It is moderator. Depending on the purpose and
imperative for collaboration between the two intended audience of the cloud community,
parties in order to ensure that the desired some institutions may choose to limit access to
pedagogical and academic purpose of the cloud- certain groups of faculty or students. These
community aligns with the availability of administrative decisions need to be clearly
technology in the learning management communicated to the systems administrator who
platform. Checks and balances to make the will likely have the capability to control access to
cloud ‘live’ to students and faculty include: the cloud-community.
 Are directions available for how to Administrators involved in programs may
access the virtual cloud-community for the want to send out a brief email explanation of the
institution? cloud to eligible student populations, and a
 Is the tab or the link in the LMS for the separate email announcement to eligible faculty.
virtual cloud-community accessible through A well-written announcement might include a
all web browsers? screen shot of how to access the virtual cloud
 Are all web links functional? community if it is embedded in the LMS, contact
 Do all documents and PDFs open information for the moderator, or a hyperlink to
correctly? the community itself.

 Does the home page set the intended
Maintaining the community
tone of the virtual cloud-community?
 Are categories efficiently organized? The value to the institution of the creation and
 Should there be consolidation of use of a virtual cloud-community to support
categories or expansion of topics and headers? undergraduate and graduate students and
faculty working together cannot be
underestimated. The infusion of available