7
134 The Research Bulletin of Jordan ACM, Vol. II (IV) Page | An Ecosystem in e-Learning Using Cloud Computing as platform and Web2.0 Mona Nasr Shimaa Ouf Faculty of Computers & Information Faculty of Computers & Information Helwan University, Egypt Helwan University, Egypt [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Research community has believed that an e-learning ecosystem is the next generation e-learning but has faced challenges in optimizing resource allocations, dealing with dynamic demands on getting information and knowledge anywhere and anytime, handling rapid storage growth requirements, cost controlling and greater flexibility. Additionally, e-learning ecosystems need to improve its infrastructure, which can devote the required computation and storage resources for e- learning ecosystems. Cloud computing technologies although in their early stages, have managed to change the way applications are going to be developed and accessed. These technologies are aimed at running applications as services over the internet on a flexible infrastructure. Cloud computing provides a low cost solution to academic institutions for their researchers, faculty and students. This setup provides an additional benefit because all browsers based applications can also be accessed through mobile devices in addition to being available to a variety of laptop and desk top computers, provided internet access is available. In this paper we combined various technologies to achieve this goal. We present an interactive tool that can be used for science education; integration between cloud computing as a platform and web 2.0 are presented as a solution for building effective e-learning ecosystem. Keywords Cloud Computing as a platform, E-Learning, Ecosystem, Web 2.0, Virtual Community. 1. INTRODUCTION During the last years, the nature of the Internet was constantly changing from static environment to a highly dynamic environment that allows end users to run software applications collaborate, share information, and creates new services online [1]. There is no doubt that the future belongs to the cloud computing. This new environment supports the creation of new generation of e-learning ecosystem that is able to run on a wide range of hardware devices, while storing data inside the cloud. The need for e-learning is increasing constantly and the development and the improvement of the e-learning solutions is necessary. Also, the e-learning systems need to keep the pace with the technology [1], so recently research community has believed that e-learning ecosystem is the next generation of e-learning [2] and the new direction is building and hosting e-educational system into the cloud. Also, there are several tools that offer support for e-learning ecosystem among this tools web 2.0. Web 2.0 has changed the World Wide Web from the original traditional publishing model of information into a collaborative information creation model. The great diffusion of Web 2.0 as new instrument is having strong effect and change on the way people search, find, collaboratively develop and consume information and knowledge. Today people are extensively using some of the Web 2.0 applications such as Wikipedia, YouTube and Twitter to create and share information. Cloud Computing presents a new way of deploying applications. Today we can get Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS). There are elastic clouds where memory and processing power get allocated based on computing resources required at the time [3]. Unlike the traditional web service technology, a light weight approach is available by Web2.0 services. Web 2.0 as term is closely associated with Tim O'Reilly is considered as a collection of web applications that reuse user generated content, initiate social interaction [4](Interaction typically occurs through discussion, commenting, collaborative writing, or working together on projects[5])and enable collaborative functionalities based on more usable and convenient technologies such as AJAX(Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), JavaScript, XSLT/XML(Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations/ExtensibleMarkupLanguage),XHTML(ExtensibleHyp ertext Markup Language),CSS( Cascading Style Sheet) and Document Object Model, XML-RPC,REST (Representational State Transfer), RSS (“Rich Site Summary” or “Real Simple Atom, wikis, podcast, mashups, Syndication”), Social Bookmarking [4]. In advance, these technologies facilitate the subscription, access, propagation; reuse and compilation of small chunks of content (micro content), interactive information sharing with the group members and/or with other learner groups, user-centered design. A Web 2.0 site gives its users the free choice to interact or collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user generated content in a virtual community [6]. Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube , LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook or Google Maps are representatives of Web2.0 applications. An important characteristic of these applications is that they provide a range of their functionality and data via web interfaces for third parties. Also, in all these social networks participants are as important as the content they upload and share with others [4]. Education and learning are not an exception of Web 2.0 trends, as the number of Web 2.0 empowered e-learning environments are booming. So, researchers using Web 2.0 applications in e-learning ecosystem in order to [30]: Place learners at the centre of online activities and facilitate supposedly new forms of creation, collaboration, and consumption.[20] Allow learners to personalize learning environments [18]. Allow learners to engage with new illiteracies and express themselves in different media. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Copyright ©2011 IJJ: The Research Bulletin of Jordan ACM - ISWSA; ISSN: 2078-7952 (print); 2078-7960 (online)

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Page 1: An Ecosystem in e-Learning Using Cloud Computing as platform

134 T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V ) P a g e |

An Ecosystem in e-Learning Using Cloud Computing as platform and Web2.0

Mona Nasr Shimaa Ouf Faculty of Computers & Information Faculty of Computers & Information

Helwan University, Egypt Helwan University, Egypt

[email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT Research community has believed that an e-learning ecosystem is the

next generation e-learning but has faced challenges in optimizing

resource allocations, dealing with dynamic demands on getting

information and knowledge anywhere and anytime, handling rapid

storage growth requirements, cost controlling and greater flexibility.

Additionally, e-learning ecosystems need to improve its infrastructure,

which can devote the required computation and storage resources for e-

learning ecosystems. Cloud computing technologies although in their

early stages, have managed to change the way applications are going to

be developed and accessed. These technologies are aimed at running

applications as services over the internet on a flexible infrastructure.

Cloud computing provides a low cost solution to academic institutions

for their researchers, faculty and students. This setup provides an

additional benefit because all browsers based applications can also be

accessed through mobile devices in addition to being available to a

variety of laptop and desk top computers, provided internet access is

available. In this paper we combined various technologies to achieve

this goal. We present an interactive tool that can be used for science

education; integration between cloud computing as a platform and web

2.0 are presented as a solution for building effective e-learning

ecosystem.

Keywords

Cloud Computing as a platform, E-Learning, Ecosystem, Web 2.0,

Virtual Community.

1. INTRODUCTION During the last years, the nature of the Internet was constantly

changing from static environment to a highly dynamic environment that

allows end users to run software applications collaborate, share

information, and creates new services online [1]. There is no doubt that

the future belongs to the cloud computing. This new environment

supports the creation of new generation of e-learning ecosystem that is

able to run on a wide range of hardware devices, while storing data

inside the cloud.

The need for e-learning is increasing constantly and the development

and the improvement of the e-learning solutions is necessary. Also, the

e-learning systems need to keep the pace with the technology [1], so

recently research community has believed that e-learning ecosystem is

the next generation of e-learning [2] and the new direction is building

and hosting e-educational system into the cloud. Also, there are several

tools that offer support for e-learning ecosystem among this tools web

2.0.

Web 2.0 has changed the World Wide Web from the original traditional

publishing model of information into a collaborative information

creation model. The great diffusion of Web 2.0 as new instrument is

having strong effect and change on the way people search, find,

collaboratively develop and consume information and knowledge.

Today people are extensively using some of the Web 2.0 applications

such as Wikipedia, YouTube and Twitter to create and share

information. Cloud Computing presents a new way of deploying

applications. Today we can get Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),

Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS). There are

elastic clouds where memory and processing power get allocated based

on computing resources required at the time [3].

Unlike the traditional web service technology, a light weight

approach is available by Web2.0 services. Web 2.0 as term is closely

associated with Tim O'Reilly is considered as a collection of web

applications that reuse user generated content, initiate social interaction

[4](Interaction typically occurs through discussion, commenting,

collaborative writing, or working together on projects[5])and enable

collaborative functionalities based on more usable and convenient

technologies such as AJAX(Asynchronous JavaScript and XML),

JavaScript, XSLT/XML(Extensible Stylesheet Language

Transformations/ExtensibleMarkupLanguage),XHTML(ExtensibleHyp

ertext Markup Language),CSS( Cascading Style Sheet) and Document

Object Model, XML-RPC,REST (Representational State Transfer), RSS

(“Rich Site Summary” or “Real Simple Atom, wikis, podcast, mashups,

Syndication”), Social Bookmarking [4].

In advance, these technologies facilitate the subscription, access,

propagation; reuse and compilation of small chunks of content (micro

content), interactive information sharing with the group members and/or

with other learner groups, user-centered design. A Web 2.0 site gives its

users the free choice to interact or collaborate with each other in a social

media dialogue as creators of user generated content in a virtual

community [6].

Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube , LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter,

Facebook or Google Maps are representatives of Web2.0 applications.

An important characteristic of these applications is that they provide a

range of their functionality and data via web interfaces for third parties.

Also, in all these social networks participants are as important as the

content they upload and share with others [4]. Education and learning

are not an exception of Web 2.0 trends, as the number of Web 2.0

empowered e-learning environments are booming. So, researchers using

Web 2.0 applications in e-learning ecosystem in order to [30]:

• Place learners at the centre of online activities and facilitate

supposedly new forms of creation, collaboration, and

consumption.[20]

• Allow learners to personalize learning environments [18].

• Allow learners to engage with new illiteracies and express

themselves in different media.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee.

Copyright ©2011 IJJ: The Research Bulletin of Jordan ACM - ISWSA;

ISSN: 2078-7952 (print); 2078-7960 (online)

Page 2: An Ecosystem in e-Learning Using Cloud Computing as platform

135 T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V ) P a g e |

• Encourage a proficiency in the publication of content, which

creates a sense of ownership, audience engagement, peer

assessment, and informal learning.

• Facilitate learning [21].

• Use collaborative problem solving [22].

• Provide prompt feedback.

• Offer learners unprecedented opportunities to create and share

content and to interact with others [21].

• Make e-learning environment more effective and successful

[20].

• Provide flexible and cost efficient e-learning ecosystem.

• Offer very attractive capabilities for learners to collaborate

and share learning contents (e.g. learning objects, drawings,

animations, pictures, digital videos, texts etc.)[30].

This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes how

ecosystem can improve e-learning. Section 3 focuses on cloud

computing concepts and the benefits of cloud computing for education.

Section 4 illustrates an enhanced e-learning ecosystem based on an

integration between cloud computing and web 2.0.

2. E-LEARNING ECOSYSTEM The aim of this section is to summarize the complex situation for

learning in environments of the 21st century by applying the ecosystem

concept and identify high level requirements for our proposed flexible

learning environment. Today’s educators have access to new

technologies such as cloud computing and Web 2.0 and they should

capitalize on this advantage to facilitate learning and make learning

environment more successful and effective [7].

In recent years, we have witnessed significant growth and massive

changes in the e-learning industry. Dondi and Delrio expressed

concerns about first generation e-learning as follows [8]:

• Isolation of learners, lack of educators' feedback, student

collaboration and campus social context.

• Uncertainty of costs for institutions and learners.

• Uncertainty about e-learning quality (resources, technology

and support services) and e-learning evaluation.

• Shortage of competencies required for e-learning

implementation among teaching staff, technical staff, and

students.

• Domination of technology and market forces over educational

aims and institutional development strategies.

According to Cowley and others, there are set of contextual

elements should take into consideration to make e-learning more

effective and successful and to facilitate learning in complex and

intricate situations:

• Environment: learners need a certain environment (PC,

Connection, software).

• Teach skills: learners need to know something about how to

use whatever learning system exists.

• Subject matter skills: learners need to have some prerequisite

skills to benefit from the course.

• Support: there has to be a mechanism to get support when

learners run into problems.

• Content: must be designed for interaction.

• Instructor: aware of learners' needs/concerns and

involvement levels, attempts to draw learners into discussion

early, organizes schedule, provides resources for learners in

need of additional learning.

• Technology: should play effective role.

• Organization: focused on learning, time and resources made

available [8].

These elements belong to e-learning ecology or ecosystems that lead

to the emergence of a second generation of e-learning [12]. This model

is comprehensive and is capable of adapting new technologies and

tools, integrating new learning approaches, adaptable to a variety of

learning styles, and is responsive to the learning conditions[7].

Ecosystem is defined according to the Encyclopedia Britannica as a

“complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their

interrelationships in a particular unit of space "also, ecosystem is more

flexible which can be of any size as long as organism, physical

environment and interaction exists [9].The British ecologist,

A.G.Tansley in 1935, and the American Raymond L. Lindeman define

ecosystem “a biotic community or assemblage and its associated

physical environment in a specific place.” [10]. Tansley indicated that

ecology should appropriately consider the activities and effects of

humans in ecosystems. The fact that he recognized new kinds of

ecosystems that result at least in part from human actions is important

[11]. The definition implicitly shows the interactions between the living

(biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components, and intrinsically within

highly complex elements.

The ecosystem is classified by biotic and abiotic components and

their entire interrelationship in specified physical boundaries and its

applicability to various application domains that lead Chang and Gütl to

integrate the idea of the ecosystem to the learning domain [10].

The generic model developed by Chang and Gütl depict learning

ecosystem (LES) that “consists of the stakeholders incorporating the

whole chain of the collaborative learning processes, the learning

utilities and the learning environment, within specific boundaries,

called environmental borders” also, show difference between living or

biotic and non-living or abiotic components. This difference is to

confirm that learning is a simple process between the living and non-

living components but growing awareness of the different styles of

potential learners, aware of learners' needs and early adopters'

experiences, strategies and the existence of modern utilities, Pursuit of

better learning via ICT(Information and communication technologies)

for lifelong learning, emergence of adaptive hypermedia and the growth

of open source software (OSS), the need to improve quality of e-

learning, and systems compounded by internal and external

environmental factors create a greater need to offer flexibility to survive

in a complex learning environment[9].

Fig.1 Simplified representation for the learning ecosystem (LES) [10]

The generic model is outlined as follow: The biotic units (living

parts) in the learning ecosystem constitute the learning communities

and other stakeholders such as teachers, tutors, content providers,

instructional designers and pedagogical experts who can interact and

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T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I

collaborate synchronously and asynchronously with one another and

play significant roles in teaching and learning [10].

The learning utilities comparable to the abiotic units represent the

non-living parts; include the static and dynamic learning m

(content and pedagogical aspects), background knowledge in the form

of external sources such as Wikipedia, digital libraries, technology, and

tools applied in teaching( Laptops, desktop computers, podcasting,

Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) ).The technology may consists of the

architecture and infrastructure platform for the management, delivery

and tracking of e-learning in the form of learning content management

system (LCMS), learning management system (LMS) and content

delivery system (CDS)[7].

The learning environmental boundaries, an analogy to the specified

physical boundaries of the ecosystem defines the physical and logical

borders of the learning system. That is one of the system’s

characteristics, which are in common specified as the

ecosystem conditions [10].

The learning ecosystem dynamic conditions are affected by

external and internal influences, such as evolution of knowledge,

educational goals, learning tasks, cultural and sociological aspects, and

expectations by society, private industry and business organizations, the

government, public service and not-for-profit organizations.

the learning ecosystem conditions have important impact on the

“behavior” of the system and its components. To be successfu

be valuable for the system, each individual and group must adapt to the

environmental conditions to find their niches. In order to fit them all

together, proper learning utilities must also be available.

Any learning situation consists of biotic and abiotic components

which, their relationships and interactions together with the ecosystems'

condition so that, researchers confirm that LES can be used with any

learning situation, such as in classroom teaching or e-

The major interests in the learning environment are relationships

and interactions related to the information flow as well as knowledge

transfer and transformation. Like a biological ecosystem, in a learning

ecosystem, individuals can shape groups and can interact

other or with learning utilities at the individual or group level. They also

can perform, change or adapt specific behaviors in order to contribute to

the success of the learning ecosystem [10].

Extending ecosystem to e-learning defines E-learning ecosystem

the term used to describe all the components required to implement an

e-learning solution".

Fig. 2 E-learning ecosystem components that is consists of Content

providers, Consultants, Infrastructure [8]

Consultants

• Strategy

• compensation

• Implementation

• Information technology

Content

Providers

• Brand

• Custom

• Commodity

Infrastructure

• Learning Management System

• Tools

• Content Delivery System

T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V )

collaborate synchronously and asynchronously with one another and

comparable to the abiotic units represent the

living parts; include the static and dynamic learning media

(content and pedagogical aspects), background knowledge in the form

of external sources such as Wikipedia, digital libraries, technology, and

tools applied in teaching( Laptops, desktop computers, podcasting,

chnology may consists of the

architecture and infrastructure platform for the management, delivery

learning in the form of learning content management

system (LCMS), learning management system (LMS) and content

, an analogy to the specified

physical boundaries of the ecosystem defines the physical and logical

borders of the learning system. That is one of the system’s

characteristics, which are in common specified as the learning

The learning ecosystem dynamic conditions are affected by

external and internal influences, such as evolution of knowledge,

educational goals, learning tasks, cultural and sociological aspects, and

by society, private industry and business organizations, the

profit organizations. Changes in

the learning ecosystem conditions have important impact on the

“behavior” of the system and its components. To be successful and to

be valuable for the system, each individual and group must adapt to the

environmental conditions to find their niches. In order to fit them all

together, proper learning utilities must also be available.

iotic and abiotic components

which, their relationships and interactions together with the ecosystems'

ers confirm that LES can be used with any

-learning [9].

interests in the learning environment are relationships

and interactions related to the information flow as well as knowledge

transfer and transformation. Like a biological ecosystem, in a learning

ecosystem, individuals can shape groups and can interact with each

other or with learning utilities at the individual or group level. They also

can perform, change or adapt specific behaviors in order to contribute to

learning ecosystem "is

the term used to describe all the components required to implement an

learning solution".

learning ecosystem components that is consists of Content

By focusing on the learning utilities component (abiotic unit) of ELES,

the learning communities (biotic unit) of ELES must be self organizing.

This self-organization is required to avoid a single point of failure.

Furthermore, the interaction between learner

improvement of the productivity of learning environment must be taken

into account to achieve this cloud computing and web 2.0 as platform to

develop e-learning ecosystems [7].

3. A WALK IN THE CLOUD COMPUTING What is cloud computing and what does it mean for IT? A

that is frequently asked by people inside and outside

Information technology is changing rapidly, so cloud computing birth

came to explore the next generation in

has become one of the hottest buzzwords in the IT area. Many

companies and institutions are rushing to define clouds and provide

cloud solutions in various ways [2].

Cloud computing is Internet-based

resources, software, and information

other devices on demand, like the electricity grid

involves the existence of data centers that are able to provide services;

the cloud can be seen as a unique access point for all requests coming

from the world wide spread clients [1].

Fig. 3 Cloud computing

It allow users to use applications without, the need to purchase,

install, or support software on their local computers and/or servers,

worrying about how to maintain these applications,

the users to access their personal files anywhere in the

from any internet-enabled device, from their phones to their desktop

computers, only the user pay according to how much and how often he

need services [26].

New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage,

broadband internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all

combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm [33].

of the most important featured ideas behind cloud computi

scalability, and the key technology which make it possible is

virtualization [2]. Virtualization breaks down the physical barriers

inherent in isolated resources, and automates the management of these

resources as a single entity through hypervisor t

(Virtual Machines).

Cloud computing has critical impact on important areas of IT, like

security, infrastructure, investments, and more [27]. It away to increase

compensation

Implementation

Information technology

Brand

Custom

Commodity

Learning Management System

Content Delivery System

136 P a g e |

focusing on the learning utilities component (abiotic unit) of ELES,

the learning communities (biotic unit) of ELES must be self organizing.

organization is required to avoid a single point of failure.

Furthermore, the interaction between learners and educators and

the productivity of learning environment must be taken

o achieve this cloud computing and web 2.0 as platform to

IN THE CLOUD COMPUTING and what does it mean for IT? A question

that is frequently asked by people inside and outside technology industr.

Information technology is changing rapidly, so cloud computing birth

the next generation in computation. Cloud computing

has become one of the hottest buzzwords in the IT area. Many

companies and institutions are rushing to define clouds and provide

based computing, whereby shared

resources, software, and information are provided to computers and

electricity grid [25].Due to the fact it

involves the existence of data centers that are able to provide services;

the cloud can be seen as a unique access point for all requests coming

Fig. 3 Cloud computing [1]

users to use applications without, the need to purchase,

install, or support software on their local computers and/or servers,

worrying about how to maintain these applications, in addition to enable

the users to access their personal files anywhere in the world, anytime,

enabled device, from their phones to their desktop

computers, only the user pay according to how much and how often he

New advances in processors, virtualization technology, disk storage,

broadband internet access and fast, inexpensive servers have all

combined to make cloud computing a compelling paradigm [33]. One

ideas behind cloud computing is

scalability, and the key technology which make it possible is

virtualization [2]. Virtualization breaks down the physical barriers

inherent in isolated resources, and automates the management of these

resources as a single entity through hypervisor technology such as VMs

Cloud computing has critical impact on important areas of IT, like

security, infrastructure, investments, and more [27]. It away to increase

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137 T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V ) P a g e |

capacity or add capabilities on the fly, reduce enterprise IT costs &

complexities while improving workload optimization and service

delivery, allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing

storage, memory, processing and bandwidth without investing in new

infrastructure, training new personnel, purchase software, or licensing

new software [13]. So, cloud computing becomes an adaptable

technology for many of companies and institutions with its dynamic

scalability and use of virtualized resources as a service through the

internet. Advances in technology offer new opportunities in enhancing

teaching and learning so cloud computing has a significant impact on

the educational environment.

Potential Values of Cloud computing for education are:

• Provide opportunity for ubiquitous computing [30].

• No need for backing up everything to a thumb drive and

transferring it from one device to another.

• No need to copy all stuff from one PC to another when buying

a new one. It also means students can create a repository of

information that stays with them and keeps growing as long as

he wants them.

• A convenient tool to engage in the scholarship of teaching and

learning.

• Provides large amounts of processing power comparable to

supercomputer level.

• Crash recovery is nearly unneeded. If the client computer

crashes, there are almost no data lost because everything is

stored in the cloud [1].

• Allows students to work from multiple Places (home, work,

library, etc), find their files and edit them through the cloud

and browser-based applications can also be accessed through

various devices (mobile, laptop and desktop computers,

provided internet access is available) [14].

• Most software is free, available and ready-to-use.

• Students can have a richer and more diverse learning

experience, even outside standard school hours.

• Allows students to create content through the browser,

instead of only searching through the browser.

• It provides a low cost solution to academic institutions for

their researchers, faculty and students [29].

• Flexibility. Scale infrastructure to maximize investments.

Cloud computing allows user to dynamically scale as

demands fluctuate [15].

• Accessibility. Help make data and services publicly available

without jeopardizing sensitive information.

Also cloud computing provides some major security benefits

for individuals and educational institutions that are

using/developing e-learning ecosystem, like the following:

• improved improbability : it is almost impossible for any

interested person (thief) to determine where is located the

machine that stores some wanted data (tests, exam questions,

results) or to find out which is the physical component he

needs to steal in order to get a digital asset[1].

• Virtualization: makes possible the rapid replacement of a

compromised cloud located server without major costs or

damages. It is very easy to create a clone of a virtual machine

so the cloud downtime is expected to be reduced substantially.

• Centralized data storage: losing a cloud client is no longer a

major incident while the main part of the applications and

data is stored into the cloud so a new client can be connected

very fast. Imagine what is happening today if a laptop that

stores the examination questions is stolen.

• Monitoring of data access becomes easier in view of the fact

that only one place should be supervised, not thousands of

computers belonging to a university, for example. Also, the

security changes can be easily tested and implemented since

the cloud represents a unique entry point for all the clients

[24].

Cloud computing is an excellent alternative for both colleges which

are specially under budget shortage to transform from traditional

learning to e-learning and colleges which do not have the resources and

infrastructure needed to run top e-learning solution effectively[15].

There is several cloud computing services providers that offer

support for educational systems. The internet giant Colleges advantages

of available cloud-based applications offered by service providers and

enable their own users/students to benefit from a set of online

productivity tools and applications in the cloud such as email, contact

lists, document storage, calendars, photo sharing, creation and sharing

(spreadsheets, word processed documents, presentations etc), and the

ability to create websites[27].

Google is one of the most prominent companies offering software as

a free online service to billions of users across the world (Google Apps,

Maps and Gmail are all based in the cloud). It already owns a massive

computer infrastructure (the cloud) where millions of people are

connecting too.

In 2008 Google has released Google App Engine as a platform

enables the user to build and host web apps on the same systems that

power Google applications. App Engine offers fast development and

deployment; simple administration, with no need to worry about

hardware, patches or backups; and effortless scalability [33].

IBM's CloudBurst is a self contained, pre packaged cloud that

includes hardware, software, applications, and middleware for faster

application development and deployment turnaround time [3, 36].

In 2006, Amazon extended its AWS (Amazon Web Service) suite

with a new component called Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (or EC2)

that allows to the users to rent from Amazon processing power to be

used to run their own applications [31].

Microsoft has also spent big bucks on cloud computing. The firm

announced that Azure will go live in January 2010, Windows Azure

platform as a flexible cloud–computing platform that lets user focus on

solving education problems, addressing students' needs and provides

necessary web tools for education. Using Azure platform will bring the

education institutions closer to its vision and giving the flexibility to

education IT departments [29].

Which cloud is right for the user? The choice to move to the cloud is

not an all-or-nothing proposition. With different types of cloud

offerings, user has flexible options about which services to obtain in the

cloud and which to keep on-site. User priorities and security

requirements determine the level of cloud capabilities to explore. If we

look closely at the cloud, we will see three distinct sets of offerings:

• Infrastructure as a service (Iaas).

• Platform as a service (Paas).

• Software as a service (Saas).

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Fig. 4 Cloud Computing Layers [17]

Software as a Service (SaaS): Deliver applications to the browser of

user or customer from the cloud. It helps organizations

process with limited IT resources to deploy and maintain needed

software in a timely manner while, at the same time, reducing energy

consumption and expenses. A growing number of academic institutions

are turning to SaaS for their desktop applications (Hinds Commu

College uses an email solution hosted in the cloud) Students now have

the free collaborative tools they want [19].

Platform as a Service: Cloud platform services or "Platform as a

Service (PaaS)" deliver a computing platform and/or

service, often consuming cloud infrastructure and sustaining cloud

applications[13]. It facilitates development and deployment of

applications without the cost and complexity of buying and managing

the underlying infrastructure (hardware (server, storage and network),

and associated software (operating systems virtualization technology,

file system)) [24].Cloud platform provide all of the facilities required to

support the complete life cycle of building and delivering web

applications and services entirely available from the Internet [33].

Infrastructure as a Service (Data centers on demand):

infrastructure services or "Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)" get on

demand computer infrastructure. Rather than purchasing servers,

software, data center space or network equipment, clients

those resources as a fully outsourced service [17].

The service is typically billed on a utility computing

of resources consumed (and therefore the cost) will typically reflect the

level of activity. It is an evolution of virtual private server

[25].

Using data centers means the user can scale with ease and speed to

meet the infrastructure needs of his entire organization or individual

departments within it, globally or locally [19].Amazon Web Services

Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Secure Storage Service (S3) are

examples of IaaS offerings [33].

• Virtual Desktop: Use any networked desktop in the users'

enterprise to access the applications, data an

• Virtual Data Center: Add or reduce computing power and

capacity as needed, control costs through a pay

structure, and offer accessibility from anywhere [34].

E-learning ecosystems can use benefit from cloud computing using:

• Infrastructure: use an e-learning ecosystem on the provider's

infrastructure.

• Platform: use and develop an e-learning ecosystem based on

the provider's development interface.

• Services: use the e-learning ecosystem given by the provider.

SaaS

Paas

Iaas

T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V )

Cloud Computing Layers [17]

Deliver applications to the browser of

user or customer from the cloud. It helps organizations learning

with limited IT resources to deploy and maintain needed

software in a timely manner while, at the same time, reducing energy

consumption and expenses. A growing number of academic institutions

are turning to SaaS for their desktop applications (Hinds Community

College uses an email solution hosted in the cloud) Students now have

Cloud platform services or "Platform as a

solution stack as a

service, often consuming cloud infrastructure and sustaining cloud

. It facilitates development and deployment of

applications without the cost and complexity of buying and managing

the underlying infrastructure (hardware (server, storage and network),

and associated software (operating systems virtualization technology,

provide all of the facilities required to

support the complete life cycle of building and delivering web

applications and services entirely available from the Internet [33].

(Data centers on demand): Cloud

infrastructure services or "Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)" get on-

. Rather than purchasing servers,

software, data center space or network equipment, clients instead buy

utility computing basis and amount

re the cost) will typically reflect the

virtual private server offerings

can scale with ease and speed to

meet the infrastructure needs of his entire organization or individual

departments within it, globally or locally [19].Amazon Web Services

Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Secure Storage Service (S3) are

Use any networked desktop in the users'

enterprise to access the applications, data and other resources.

Add or reduce computing power and

through a pay-per-use

structure, and offer accessibility from anywhere [34].

learning ecosystems can use benefit from cloud computing using:

learning ecosystem on the provider's

learning ecosystem based on

learning ecosystem given by the provider.

4. CLOUD COMPUTING AND WEB 2.0 Technologies and Services for building

Ecosystems There have been many new advances in the computing field in

recent times. Cloud Computing and Web 2.0 are two such areas that are

beginning to significantly impact how we develop, deploy and use e

learning ecosystem model. As shown in

involving various stakeholders' needs to

and content types, increasing e-learning ecosystem productivity and

scalability, Moreover; learning environment must

adaptable towards users’ needs and concerns.

This raises the question of whether cloud computing and web2.0

meet the indicated requirements. To answer this

introduces the proposed model with new technologies

between cloud computing and simple web 2.0 layer model

linked with learning processes. Each layer will perform specific

functions which contribute in achieving the

Fig. 5 e-Learning ecosystem

Components of the Proposed Model:

(2) Specific types of services and applications, (3) Web 2.0 based

activities, (4) learning processes (5) Cloud computing

Azure (7) Windows Azure AppFabric and

(1)Web2.0 Technologies: The first layer includes technologies

which make Web services and applications more usable and

convenient, such as AJAX, JavaScript,

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), REST, RSS, Atom, and the like. These

technologies allow users to create, share, collaborate & communicate,

improve system performance and make the user interface more

attractive. From this layer we will use only the tools that compatible

with cloud computing.

(2)Web2.0 Services and Applications

web 2.0 services and application built on

that demonstrate the foundations of the web 2.0 concept, and they are

already being used to a certain extent in education, these applications

include weblogs, wikis, social writing tools,

tagging, podcasts, media sharing tools, social networks, mashup and the

like. These are not really technologies as such, but services built using

the building blocks of the technologies and open standards that underpin

the Internet and the Web. The universities ca

applications to communicate and interact with learners, staff and the

wider academic community. From this layer we will use only the tools

that compatible with cloud computing.

(3)Web 2.0 Based Activities: The third layer contain

activities are depending on web2.0 services

Web 2.0-based activities include collaborative content writing, sharing,

communication, messaging, information linking, information

presentation and the like.

(4)Learning Processes: The learning processes are summarized as a

number of the learning processes are defined by the Learning

Each of the learning tasks can be controlled by one or even several

138 P a g e |

CLOUD COMPUTING AND WEB 2.0 Services for building efficient E-Learning

Ecosystems many new advances in the computing field in

recent times. Cloud Computing and Web 2.0 are two such areas that are

beginning to significantly impact how we develop, deploy and use e-

shown in Section 2, e-learning ecosystem

needs to integrate a variety of services

learning ecosystem productivity and

; learning environment must be flexible and

concerns.

cloud computing and web2.0 can

. To answer this question, Figure 5

introduces the proposed model with new technologies, integration

between cloud computing and simple web 2.0 layer model will be

linked with learning processes. Each layer will perform specific

functions which contribute in achieving the paper objectives.

earning ecosystem model

Components of the Proposed Model: (1) Web2.0 technologies,

types of services and applications, (3) Web 2.0 based

activities, (4) learning processes (5) Cloud computing (6) Windows

and (8) SQL Azure.

The first layer includes technologies

Web services and applications more usable and

convenient, such as AJAX, JavaScript, XSLT/XML, XHTML,

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), REST, RSS, Atom, and the like. These

technologies allow users to create, share, collaborate & communicate,

rformance and make the user interface more

attractive. From this layer we will use only the tools that compatible

Web2.0 Services and Applications: The second layer consists of

web 2.0 services and application built on Web 2.0 technologies layer

that demonstrate the foundations of the web 2.0 concept, and they are

already being used to a certain extent in education, these applications

include weblogs, wikis, social writing tools, social bookmarking, social

podcasts, media sharing tools, social networks, mashup and the

like. These are not really technologies as such, but services built using

the building blocks of the technologies and open standards that underpin

The universities can make use of these

applications to communicate and interact with learners, staff and the

wider academic community. From this layer we will use only the tools

The third layer contains specific

on web2.0 services and applications. These

based activities include collaborative content writing, sharing,

ommunication, messaging, information linking, information

learning processes are summarized as a

learning processes are defined by the Learning tasks.

Each of the learning tasks can be controlled by one or even several

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139 T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V ) P a g e |

learning activities. Such activities can be provided through the Web 2.0

services and applications by Web 2.0-based activities.

(5)Cloud computing as a platform:

Cloud computing as a platform is a new era of cloud computing

offers the academic organization a familiar development experience,

on-demand scalability, scale up when it need capacity and pull it back

when it don’t, cost savings, and reduced time to market for the

applications, all in a secure environment[35] . It is a new instrument to

host and deploy e-learning ecosystem in more effective way. We will

use windows azure as a platform.

(6)Windows Azure: Provides a Windows-based environment for

running e-learning ecosystem application and storing data on servers in

Microsoft data centers.

(7)Windows Azure AppFabric: provides a comprehensive cloud

middleware platform for developing, deploying and managing e-

learning ecosystem application on the Windows Azure Platform. It

delivers additional developer productivity adding in higher-level

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) capabilities on top of the familiar

Windows Azure application model. It also enables bridging the existing

applications to the cloud through secure connectivity across network

and geographic boundaries, and by providing a consistent development

model for both Windows Azure and Windows Server.

(8) SQL Azure

Is a highly available and scalable cloud database service built on SQL

Server technologies? With SQL Azure, developers do not have to

install, setup, and patch or manage any software.

Benefits of windows azure: Agility: Take advantage of development tools, automated service

management and global datacenter presence to respond faster to

customer needs, focus on his competitive differentiators, and reach new

markets.

Efficiency: Windows Azure improves productivity and increases

operational efficiency by lowering up-front capital costs.

Focus: Focus on delivering services and value to user and not on

managing technology infrastructure. Windows Azure enables user to

spend less time on operational hurdles and more time focusing on his

competitive differentiators.

Simplicity: Utilize user existing skills in familiar languages such as

.NET to create and manage web applications and services.

Trustworthy: Enterprise class service backed by reliable service level

agreements and a rich online services experience.

Emerging web 2.0 layers with windows azure as a platform meet

the needs of the education communities in the educational institutions.

5. SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN Fig 6 and Fig 7 show a deep understanding of the goals, tasks, and

requirements of the proposed enhanced e-learning ecosystem.

Fig. 6 E-learning Ecosystem Diagram

Fig. 7 Database Schema

6. CONCLOSION The design of e-learning ecosystems is still in its infancy. With the huge

growth of users, services education contents and resources, e-learning

ecosystem is facing challenges of optimizing resource allocations,

dealing with dynamic concurrency demands, handling rapid storage

growth requirements and cost controlling. So the best solution for this is

using new technologies (integration between cloud computing and web

2.0). In the field of ICT sourcing cloud computing is currently one of

the biggest topics. Cloud computing is a delivery model that allows

users to rent ICT services and performance on an on-demand or project

basis through networks (e.g. the Internet or an intranet) instead of

uc Actors

E-Learning Ecosystem

Learner

Educator

Admin

Author

Coordinator

Manager

View Course

Create Profile Interactiv e

Discussion

Adj ust User

Interface

Create Content

Enroll courses

Utilize Content

Update Content

Collaborate

Content Creatre New

Course

Manage Content

Category

Create curriculum

Inspect learner

activ ities

Update the Existing

Course

Supervise

learner’ learning

Coach learner’

learning

Assist learner’

learning

Ev aluate learner’

learning

participate in

discussions

communicate

personal messages

exchange personal

messages

collect deliv erables

assess deliv erables

return deliverables

comment proj ect

work

review learning

activ ities

stimulate learning

proposing activ ities

create work teams

provide contents

ev aluate learners

progress

communicate with

learners, other

educators and

coordinators

administrate security

access rights to the

system

access rights to the

system

network operations

Monitor and repair

database

connections and

operations

Monitor & repair

server problems

Maintain the system

produce statistics

Inspect course

progress

Monitor learner

progress

Tally an analyze test

results

Approv e eligible

course enrollments

manages enrollments

manage courses

catalogue

Assign profiles and

priv ileges to the

users

Administer the

system

Backup database

Manage System

setting

Manage User

priv ileges

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140 T h e R e s e a r c h B u l l e t i n o f J o r d a n A C M , V o l . I I ( I V ) P a g e |

purchasing them. These services can be software (SaaS – Software as a

Service), platforms for the development and operation of applications

(PaaS – Platform as a Service) or basic infrastructure, e.g. storage space

(IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service).

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