Six Ways Cloud Technology Will Impact Learning

Cloud technology, when applied to the learning organization, is quickly becoming a game changer. Organizations such as Microsoft, Cisco, EMC and Novell already use it to create, implement and deliver more effective learning applications. Others are preparing their learning organizations to leverage cloud computing’s potential. It can offer:

• Anywhere, anytime access to learning applications.

• Instant scalability to meet growing learner populations.

• Seamless compatibility with social and collaborative tools and features.

The latest projections by technology research company Gartner show exponential growth in cloud computing adoption. However, some CLOs are still evaluating the data to see how the cloud could impact their organizations.

LMS provider Expertus held a virtual learning executive think tank discussion in 2011 to discuss the implications and uses for this new technology (Editor’s note: The author works for Expertus). Co-chaired by Tom Kelly, former learning executive at Cisco and Oracle, and Tom Clancy, vice president of education services at EMC Corp., it brought together learning executives from numerous industries to discuss how cloud computing has affected or will affect learning organizations.

Streamline learning delivery. While some think tank participants were already using the cloud, and others were just moving toward it, all agreed that cloud technology will have great impact on learning delivery by upgrading learning organizations from a costly and time-consuming model to a more efficient and effective delivery system.

In the old onsite delivery model the organization buys, installs, accesses, controls and maintains all learning applications and courseware in-house. In the new cloud delivery model the cloud hosts all or part of the organization’s learning applications and courseware.

“We are all witnessing how cloud is transforming businesses to deliver more value to their customers than ever before, and to do it more effectively and more efficiently,” Clancy said. “With training, it is no different, and the possibilities are immense. Training organizations will no longer be required to be experts on the underlying infrastructure to deliver training — the computation, software, networking, storage and so on. They can instead focus on their core competency and what they do best — educating.”