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 elastically provisioned and released based on users' demand to serve a wide and constantly expanding range of information processing needs. Due to its tremendous advantages this technology is maturing rapidly and is being adopted in many applications including government, business, and education. In this paper, we study how cloud computing can benefit e-learning education in KSA. We discuss the cloud computing educational environment and explore how universities and institutions may take advantage of clouds not only in terms of cost but also in terms of efficiency, reliability, portability, flexibility, and security. We present several case studies for educational clouds introduced by popular cloud providers which reflect the increasing interest in this new trend. We also discuss future challenges to cloud education.