Implementation, Utilization, and Implications of Cloud Computing Services in Higher Education: A Case Study of Saudi Public Universities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to survey the implementation and utilization of cloud computing services in public universities in Saudi Arabia before exploring the implications of such practices. This study conducts to address the following five research questions: 1. What is the awareness and usage of students and faculty members about cloud computing services in Saudi public universities? 2. What cloud computing services do Saudi public universities implement for education and research? 3. What is the impact of utilizing cloud computing services on students' learning and faculty members' teaching and research? 4. What are the best practices in implementation and utilization of cloud computing services that can be recommended to all public universities in Saudi Arabia? 5. What are the implications of implementing and utilizing cloud computing services for public universities in Saudi Arabia? Three groups (i.e., students, faculty members, and IT staff) from randomly selected Saudi public universities constitute the participants for this study. Three questionnaires were separately developed specifically for each of the three participant groups for data collection purpose. Likewise, three sets of interview questions were created for each of the three groups of participants, who already completed the questionnaire and volunteered to take part in the second part of data gathering. Questionnaire data collected for this research techniques was initially analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages. A normalizing procedure was adopted to analyze the ranking data from the surveys. Interview data was analyzed qualitatively using the content analysis technique. The findings of the present study include the following points: 1) Boost awareness of students and faculty members about cloud computing services as the current study finds that students and faculty members would use cloud computing services only after they become aware of them. 2) Encourage students and faculty members to use cloud computing services as the current study demonstrates that such usage has a significant impact on students’ learning and faculty’s teaching and research. 3) Improve implementation of and IT support for cloud computing services so that both students and faculty can take full advantage of those services available on campus. 4) Promote effective utilization of cloud computing services on campus by publicizing best practices in this regard. In the future, the present researcher intends to expand the study on the implementation and utilization of cloud computing services to private Saudi universities and higher learning institutions in other countries. Further research will also be conducted to explore factors affecting students' and faculty members’ utilization of cloud computing services in the academic environment.

Keywords: Cloud Services, Implementation Issues, IT Support, Saudi Arabia, Utilization Issues