How Cloud-Based Systems Can Improve Learning Outcomes

How Cloud-Based Systems Can Improve Learning Outcomes

Presentation to Florida School Board Association

Ken Eisner

keneisne@amazon.com

Director, Global Education Strategy

Agenda

• What is the Cloud (and How Amazon got into the Cloud)

• Speak to some Cloud Myths

• Drivers of Digital Change in Education

• Role of the Cloud in Education

• Career Pathways for Students in the Cloud

• Tenets of a Cloud-Based Education

What’s the Cloud?

Deep experience in

building and

operating global web

scale systems

About Amazon Web

Services

?

…get into cloud computing?

How did Amazon…

Amazon’s Definition of

“Cloud Computing”

On-demand delivery of IT

resources via the Internet with

pay-as-you-go pricing.

NIST Definition of

“Cloud Computing”

Model for enabling ubiquitous,

convenient, on-demand network

access to a shared pool of

configurable computing

resources that can be rapidly

provisioned and released with

minimal management effort or

service provider interaction.

ON DEMAND}UNIFORM

PAY AS YOU GO

AVAILABLE

ON DEMAND}UNIFORM

PAY AS YOU GO

AVAILABLE

Walking up the Cloud Pyramid

Data centers; computing

capacity; networking;

security; management

High cost, heavy-lifting

Infrastructure

as a Service

Platform

as a

Service

Software

as a

Service

What AWS Offers

AWS:

11 regions

28 availability

zones

52 edge locations

Myth #1 – The Cloud doesn’t have physical locations

Customer chooses where your apps and data go

AB

C

D

Where Your Data and Apps are Stored

Security

Reliability

Power

Service Breadth

Myth #2 – Cloud is Less Secure than On-Premises

Facilities

Physical security

Compute infrastructure

Storage infrastructure

Network infrastructure

Virtualization layer (EC2)

Hardened service endpoints

Rich IAM capabilities

Network configuration

Security groups

OS firewalls

Operating systems

Applications

Proper service configuration

Account management

Authorization policies

+ =

School

Working together, we can

achieve systems validated and

certified at the highest levels

Myth #3 -- Cloud is not an all-or-nothing choice

Legacy

Data Centers

On-Premises

Resources

Cloud

ResourcesIntegration

Diving into the Cloud

in Education …

Drivers of digital change in education

• Declining budgets and outdated infrastructure creating pressures

• New pedagogy – blended, flipped, project-based, online/MOOC

• Personalized learning (and big data) in education

• Digital native student population experiences learning in new ways

• Mass changes in formative and summative assessments

• Changing trends in workforce and upcoming job skills gap

To meet challenge, school IT & digital technology must:

• Lower barriers to change (financial and technical)

• Be able to reallocate spend from maintenance to new development

• Innovate – accommodate success AND failure economically

• Truly partner with change agents in school

• Accommodate the changing dynamics of students

… and How the Cloud Can Add Value

1. Lower barriers to change (financial, technical):

On-demand pricing and low variable cost

1

“Average of 400 servers

replaced per customer”

Replace up-front

capital expense with

low variable cost

2

Continuous downward

momentum

Economies of scale

allow us to continually

lower costs

3

Pricing model choice

to support variable &

stable workloads

4

Save more money as

you grow bigger

State or District-

Level

Procurement?

More Pricing

Predictability

Opportunity: Lower cost & ability to reallocate spend

1:1 programs

Fast broadband

Educational technology

solutions (adaptive learning,

blended instruction, formative

assessments, mobile, 24/7)

Hasten shift from

print-to-digital

Professional development

Parental engagement

Challenge: Traditional funding streams, as school bonds

• Thinking about IT differently, as a

utility

• Encouraging on-demand, pay-as-

you-go infrastructure

• Shifting new “variable” expenses

into predictable costs

Traditional IT

Capacity

TimeYour IT needs

2. Don’t guess capacity, scale up & scale down on demand

On and Off Fast Growth

Predictable peaksVariable peaks

DISSATISFACTION = School start, assessments, events …

WASTE = Vast majority of education

Fast GrowthOn and Off

Predictable peaksVariable peaks

WITH AWS

Old World:

Infrastructure in

weeks

3. Launch and scale new technology in minutes

from one server …

…to thousands, in minutes

Buy and install new hardware

Setup and configure new software

build or upgrade data centers

Moves school away

from “legacy” tasksAnd school IT no

longer has to:Data Centers

Power

Cooling

Cabling

Networking

Racks

Servers

Storage

Labor

4. Cloud takes care of undifferentiated, heavy lifting

5. School IT can partner w/change agents and spark culture

of innovation: Experiment often; fail with low risk and cost

And What Type of Innovation?

Think of schools as start-ups

Enable a robust educational technology ecosystem for your teachers

Search AssessEnable /

Procure+ + ++ Integrate Analyze

Modernize pedagogy

+ Flipping the

Classroom

Note: Word cloud images found on Google image search (eg. “social learning”).

Put data to use for adaptive learning, assessments, and improving operations

Meet today’s youth where they are

Prepare youth for an ever-changing world

Skills Gap

“By 2020, there will be a global shortfall of 85 Million high and middle

skilled workers.”

-McKinsey Global Institute

Employment Opportunities

“Cloud computing will generate 14 Million jobs by 2015.”-International Data Corporation (IDC)

21st century STEM, enabling youth to become coders, makers, and data scientists

Working case study of K-12 + College + Industry

Tenets of a Cloud-based digital learning ecosystem

• Think of education as a startup would: test, fail, and iterate.

• Protecting data is a table leg for a 21st century educational environment.

In a secure environment, data can be used to drive massive change.

• In the age of “big data,” analysis and application of that analysis is done

in real-time, and assessments should evolve into real-time as well.

• School technologists need to be repurposed for the strategic means of

education, not for maintaining yesterday’s infrastructure.

Tenets of a Cloud-based digital learning ecosystem

• Meet children where they are. Mobility, interactive media, 24/7, and

project-based learning/DIY must be the new normal for education.

Relevance and “fun” can be the secret sauce in encouraging grit.

• STEM is important, but it also must continuously be re-thought for a

rapidly changing world.

• We need to re-think vocational education and career pathways.

• When industry partners and builds with educators, we can accomplish

amazing things. Without the partnership, we live in our own bubble.

Questions and Answers

Ken Eisner

keneisne@amazon.com