Effective use of cloud computing in educational institutions

Cloud computing is becoming an adoptable technology for many of the organizations with its dynamic scalability and usage of virtualized resources as a service through the Internet. It will likely have a significant impact on the educational environment in the future. Cloud computing is an excellent alternative for educational institutions which are especially under budget shortage in order to operate their information systems effectively without spending any more capital for the computers and network devices. Universities take advantage of available cloud-based applications offered by service providers and enable their own users/students to perform business and academic tasks. In this paper, we will review what the cloud computing infrastructure will provide in the educational arena, especially in the universities where the use of computers are more intensive and what can be done to increase the benefits of common applications for students and teachers. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.