A NEW TREND FOR E-LEARNING IN KSA USING EDUCATIONAL CLOUDS

Cloud computing provides a shared pool of computing resources that can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned and released based on users’ demand to serve a wide and constantly expanding range ofinformation processing needs. Due to its tremendous advantages this technology is maturing rapidly andis being adopted in many applications including government, business, and education. In this paper, westudy how cloud computing can benefit e-learning education in KSA. We discuss the cloud computingeducational environment and explore how universities and institutions may take advantage of clouds notonly in terms of cost but also in terms of efficiency, reliability, portability, flexibility, and security. Wepresent several case studies for educational clouds introduced by popular cloud providers which reflectthe increasing interest in this new trend. We also discuss future challenges to cloud education.