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International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews
Journal homepage: www.ijrpr.com ISSN 2582-7421
Investigating the Level of Awareness and Usage of Educational Cloud
Computing Applications in Tertiary Institutions in Kebbi State
Alhassan Salihu1, Sulaiman Umar S. Noma2, Akanji,Saidu Sunbo3 , Ajayi Olubenga4
1,2,4Department of Computer Science, Kebbi State Polytechnic Dakingari, Nigeria
3Department of Electrical Engineering, Kebbi State Polytechnic Dakingari, Nigeria
Email: salihualhassan02@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This research work investigated the level of awareness and usage of educational cloud computing applications in tertiary institutions in Kebbi State, Nigeria. This
study adopted a descriptive survey design technique. The sample for this study comprises of 80 academic staff, 40 non- academic staff and 160 students randomly
selected from eight public tertiary institutions in Kebbi State. The study used google form statistical analysis questionnaires as an instrument for gathering data,
and the gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools, specifically: percentages, frequency count and mean statistics. To use mean statistics,
options were coded as strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree with a rating of 4,3,2,1 respectively. The cut off mean of the numerical values of the
code is 2.5. Any statement which returned a mean greater than or equal to 2.5 is accepted otherwise the statement is rejected. The study indicated that besides few
academic staff who use highly educational cloud computing applications such as turnitin, moodle and flicker, majority of the respondents use cloud computing
applications for social networking activities. Result from the study also indicated that majority of the respondents who currently use cloud computing applications
gained awareness through self-discovery and interaction with their colleagues. The study therefore recommends that tertiary institutions in Kebbi State should
organize workshops and conferences for both the staff and students on how to maximize the usage of highly educational enhancing cloud computing applications.
1. Introduction
Cloud computing is a rapidly developing and excellent promising technology. It has aroused the concern of the computer society of whole world. Cloud
computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared information, resources, and software, are provided to terminals and portable devices on-demand,
like the energy grid. Cloud computing is the product of the combination of grid computing, distributed computing, parallel computing, and ubiquitous
computing. It aims to build and forecast sophisticated service environment with powerful computing capabilities through an array of relatively low-cost
computing entity, and using the advanced deployment models like SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a
Service),HaaS (Hardware as a Service) to distribute the powerful computing capacity to end-user[1].
The use of emerging technologies in tertiary institutions to support teaching and learning has clearly changed the way education is being conducted in
many nations. Educational institutions are able to collaborate, network, share resources, and increase enrolment because of these technologies. It is
common to see many online certificate and degree programmes being offered in many tertiary institutions around the world. As such, educational
institutions throughout the World have become highly dependent on technology for teaching, learning and for conducting research. They continue to seek
opportunities to rationalize the way they manage their resources. These opportunities have become even better with the introduction of a novel system of
computing called cloud computing [2]. This research aims to investigate the available cloud computing applications, awareness and usage of these
applications by tertiary institutions in Kebbi State.
1.1 Statement of the Problem
Educational cloud computing applications in tertiary institutions had important responsibilities for supporting teaching, learning and office work by the
lecturers, students and non-academic staff. Educational course contents are translated into reality without physical face-to-face contact at the same time
academicians are delivering lectures using some of this cloud computing applications for the production of good quality educational output thus making
it easy for lecturers and students to teach and learn different things effectively.
Awareness and usage of educational cloud computing applications in tertiary institutions in Kebbi State has become a challenging issue for both lecturers
and students which lead to a research to find out the available educational cloud computing applications from various published research papers and to
know the extent of awareness and usage by staff and students in tertiary institutions in Kebbi State.
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1392
This research will help both the academic and non-academic staff and students in tertiary institutions within and outside the state to be aware of the major
educational cloud computing applications available for use. Awareness of the available Cloud Computing Applications will also be of great benefit to
lecturers and students while conducting researches. Deploying these applications while teaching, learning and carrying out research will afford users of
these applications and researchers the opportunity to collaborate with experts in order to achieve their research goals/objectives.
1.2 Research Questions
The following are the research questions were formulated to guide the study, they include:
1. What are the available Supportive Educational Cloud Computing Applications for use by staff and students of tertiary institutions?
2. What are the levels of awareness on the Educational Cloud Computing Applications by staff and students of tertiary institutions in Kebbi
State?
3. What are the levels of usage of Educational Cloud Computing Applications by the staff and students of tertiary institution in Kebbi State?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
This study is generally aimed at investigating the level of awareness and usage of educational cloud computing applications in tertiary institutions in
Kebbi State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study seeks to:
1. To investigate the availability of educational cloud computing applications in the tertiary institutions in Kebbi State.
2. To determine whether or not the educational cloud computing applications are accessible by staff and students.
3. To investigate the utilizations of educational cloud computing applications by both staff and students.
4. To identify the educational cloud computing services rendered by tertiary institutions in Kebbi State.
2. Literature Review
Ref [2] presented a study that determined the available cloud computing resources and the extent of utilization of those resources by business education
lecturers in teaching of office education and management courses in tertiary institutions in Anambra State. Two public Universities and two public
colleges of education were surveyed to attain the purpose of this study. The institutions include Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu University Igbariam, Federal College of Education Technical Umunze and Nwafor Orizu College of Education Nsugbe. The study
adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for the study was 36 business education lecturers drawn from two public universities and two
public colleges of education in the study area. Two research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. Data were collected by the researchers
through personal contact using a 26-item structured questionnaire. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used in determining the internal consistency
of the instrument which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.70 signifying that the instrument was reliable for the study. Analysis was done using mean
and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistic was used in testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The
study found among others that most of the identified cloud computing resources were not adequately available and the extents of their utilization was still
significantly low. The study recommended among others alternative strategies for the provision of teaching resources in tertiary institutions rather than
total reliance on government. Again workshop should be organized for Business Educator to train them on how to use the available resources in teaching
office and management education courses.
Ref [3] presented the challenges and issues of security aspects in cloud computing method. The authors first look into the impacts of the distinctive
characteristics of cloud computing, namely, multi-tenancy, elasticity and third party control, upon the security requirements. They later analysed the cloud
security requirements in terms of the fundamental issues, i.e., confidentiality, integrity, availability, audit and compliance.
The authors of [1] explored the background and service models and also presented the existing research issues and implications in cloud computing
such as security, reliability, privacy, and so on. The empirical model for cloud computing adoption by the higher education institutions. Successful
migration to cloud computing by higher education institutions (HEIs) depends on well definition for transition strategies which requires deeply
understanding the factors affect cloud adoption by the HEIs. The research provided a framework that shows the factors that influent the Somali HEIs to
adopt cloud computing paradigm, and the researchers aimed to develop an implementation strategy that will enable the HEIs in Somalia to adopt easily
and effectively to the cloud computing. So, the researchers employed a case study strategy which is appropriate for investigating a contemporary research
phenomenon; Somali higher education institutions are the case study applied in this research. The research adopts quantitative research approaches.
Nonetheless, a survey is used to provide an exploratory snapshot of the cloud computing adoption by the Somali higher education institutions (HEIs).
Questionnaires were conducted to identify whether the HEIs in Somalia interest to adopt cloud computing and the questionnaires were conducted to
reveal the level of understanding cloud computing and the factors that effect to adopt cloud computing. The analysis of the collected d through the
questionnaire was undertaken using descriptive statistics as well as frequency analysis using SPSS V20.0 which is useful for the analysis of quantitative
data means it is used for survey authoring, data mining, and statistical analysis [4].
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1393
The author of [5] presented a research paper aimed at identifying the challenges and threats to information security of cloud computing. Cloud computing
provides many virtual services that can be managed and accessed by users through the web and user interfaces. It also enables users to store information
that can be easily accessed globally. Despite the advantages of cloud computing, there are numerous challenges and threats to the users and service
providers that may directly or indirectly affect the cloud computing system consequently affecting its information security. A critical review approach
has been adopted as a method to identify the knowledge gaps in the literature. Several studies related to the information security challenges of cloud
computing have been reviewed and critically evaluated. The critical review approach described in this paper resulted in a set of important information
about the security challenges of cloud computing that must be taken into consideration by the users and service providers. Among the most important of
these challenges are data encryption, network security, confidentiality, data privacy, malware, Authenticity, data breach, and the challenge of identity and
access management. The study recommended the necessity to discover more information security challenges of cloud computing and to take the
challenges discussed in this paper into account in order to protect the data and information of the organization and maintain its performance.
Ref [6] presented a study which examined the usage and awareness level of cloud computing applications by library professionals of Sindh province.
The researcher deployed quantitative survey research technique. The population of the study was library professionals working in different libraries
likewise in Sindh province. The study employed random sampling technique with a simple sample size of 165 library professionals (library assistant,
assistant librarian, deputy librarian and librarian. Questionnaire was prepared in google form and distributed by email to selected respondents. Result of
the study indicated that the knowledge and awareness of library professionals regarding cloud computing application is not very significant. Majority of
library professionals are using cloud computing applications for their personal purposes without giving considerations to the security of data. This study
will help university administrators as well as government to implement cloud computing to enhance the level of knowledge of library professionals.
Authors of [7] presented an algorithm for resource utilization problem in cloud computing based on greedy method. A privately-owned cloud that
provides services to a huge number of users is assumed. For a given resource, hundreds or thousands of requests accumulate over time to use that resource
by different users worldwide via the Internet. A prior knowledge of the requests to use that resource is also assumed. The main concern is to find the best
utilization schedule for a given resource in terms of profit obtained by utilizing that resource, and the number of time slices during which the resource
will be utilized. The problem is proved to be an NP-Complete problem. A greedy algorithm is proposed and analyzed in terms of its runtime complexity.
The proposed solution is based on a combination of the 0/1 Knapsack problem and the activity-selection problem. The algorithm is implemented using
Java. Results show good performance with a runtime complexity O((F-S)nLogn).
3. Methodology
This study adopted a descriptive survey design technique. The sample for this study comprises of 80 academic staff, 40 non- academic staff and 160
students randomly selected from eight public tertiary institutions in Kebbi State. That is: Federal University Birni Kebbi, Kebbi State University of
Science and Technology, Aliero, Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State Polytechnic Dakingari, College of Education, Argungu,
College of Nursing and Midwifery, Birnin Kebbi, College of Health Sciences, Jega, and College of Basic and Advanced Studies, Yelwa Yauri. The study
used google form statistical analysis questionnaires as an instrument for gathering data, and the gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistical
tools. Specifically, percentages, frequency count and mean statistics were used. To use mean statistics, options were coded as strongly agree, agree,
disagree and strongly disagree with a rating of 4,3,2,1 respectively. The cut off mean of the numerical values of the code is 2.5. Any statement which
returned a mean greater than or equal to 2.5 is accepted otherwise the statement is rejected.
3.1 Data Analysis and Interpretation
Table 1: Demographic Information
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
Gender
Freq.
%
Gender
Freq.
%
Gender
Freq.
%
Male
58
72.5
Male
27
67.5
Male
104
65
Female
22
27.5
Female
13
32.5
Female
56
35
Total
80
100
Total
40
100
Total
160
100
From Table 1 above, 58 academic staff respondents representing 72.5% are male while 22 academic staff respondents representing 27.5% are female.
27 non-academic staff representing 67.5% are male while 13 are female.104 student respondents representing 65% are male while 56 student respondents
representing 35% are female.
Research Question 1: What are the available Supportive Educational Cloud Computing Applications for used in your tertiary institutions?
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1394
Table 2: Current Usage level of cloud computing applications
Q1a
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
Do you currently use
cloud computing
applications in your
educational activities?
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Yes
67
83.75
Yes
18
45
Yes
43
26.87
No
13
16.25
No
22
55
No
117
73.13
Total
80
100
Total
40
100
Total
160
100
Table 2, shows that 67 academic staff respondents representing 83.75% currently use cloud computing applications in the studied tertiary institutions.45%
of the non-academic staff respondents currently use cloud computing applications while only 26% of the student respondents currently use cloud
computing application.
Table 3: Commonly used cloud computing applications by respondents
Q1b
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
If your answer to
question Q1a above
is yes, please tick the
cloud computing
applications you have
used for educational
purposes?
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
GoogleApps
55
68.75
GoogleApps
33
82.5
GoogleApps
12
7.5
Moodle
8
10
Moodle
0
0
Moodle
3
1.9
Gmail
77
96.25
Gmail
32
80
Gmail
110
68.75
Instagram
28
35.00
Instagram
27
67.5
Instagram
111
69.38
Zoom
73
91.25
Zoom
15
37.5
Zoom
108
67.5
Dropbox
13
16.25
Dropbox
3
7.5
Dropbox
11
6.88
Twitter
18
22.5
Twitter
12
30
Twitter
25
15.63
Facebook
70
87.5
Facebook
30
75
Facebook
100
62.5
Turnitin
52
65
Turnitin
4
10
Turnitin
6
3.75
Skype
22
27.5
Skype
5
12.5
Skype
40
25.0
Flicker
2
2.5
Flicker
0
0
Flicker
0
0
Table 3 shows that academic staff often use cloud computing applications like google apps, gmail, zoom, Facebook and turnitin. Such applications like
moodle, instagram, dropbox are only used by few academic staff. Non-academic staff respondents use google apps, gmail, instagram and facebook and
hardly use moodle and flicker. Student respondents often use Gmail, instagram, zoom and facebook and hardly use google app, moodle turnitin.
Research Question 2: What are the levels of awareness on Educational Cloud Computing Applications by Staff and Students of tertiary institutions in
Kebbi State?
Table 4: Degree of awareness of cloud computing applications
Q2a
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
Are you aware of cloud
computing applications
designed for educational
support in tertiary
institutions?
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Yes
72
90
Yes
21
52.5
Yes
50
31.25
No
8
10
No
19
47.5
No
110
68.75
Total
80
100
Total
40
100
Total
160
100
From Table 4, 72 academic staff respondents out of 80 sampled respondents representing 90% of academic staff respondents are aware of the existence
of cloud computing applications designed for educational support. Almost half of the non-academic staff respondents are not aware of the existence of
such educational support applications. From the sampled response of the students in the study area, only about one-third (31.25%) of them are aware of
the existence of such applications.
Table 5: Rating of awareness of cloud computing applications
Q2b.
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
How would you rate your current level of
awareness about educational cloud computing
applications?
Frequency
Not at all aware
7
13
60
Slightly aware
9
6
42
Moderately aware
5
4
10
Very aware
30
10
20
Extremely aware
29
7
28
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1395
Table 5 shows that 73 academic staff respondents out of the 80 sampled respondents are aware of educational cloud computing, similarly, 27 out of 40
non-academic staff are aware of educational cloud computing. Two third of the sampled student respondents are aware of educational cloud computing
applications.
Table 6: Means of gaining awareness about cloud computing
Q2c.
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
How did you become
aware of these educational
cloud computing
applications? (Tick all that
apply)
Freq.
(%)
Freq.
%
Freq.
%
Training/workshops
provided by the institution
2
2.5
2
2.5
10
6.25
Colleagues or peers
20
25
25
62.5
73
45.63
Self-discovery through
personal research
55
68.75
13
32.5
77
48.12
Professional conferences or
webinars
3
3.75
0
0
0
0
From table 6, 55 academic staff respondents representing 68.75% became aware of cloud computing applications through self-discovery while carrying
out personal research. 25% of academic staff respondents became aware of cloud computing applications through interaction with their colleagues, only
few academic staff respondents gained awareness of cloud computing through training/workshop or professional conferences. Non- academic staff
majorly gained awareness of cloud computing applications through colleagues and self-discovery. The students just like the non-academic respondents
also gained awareness of cloud computing through their peers and majorly through self-discovery.
Research Question 3: What are the levels of usage on the Educational Cloud Computing Applications by the Staff and Students of tertiary institution in
Kebbi State?
Table 7: Usage of cloud computing application for teaching and learning
Q3a
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
Have you personally
used any educational
cloud computing
applications for
teaching or learning
purposes?
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Yes
77
96.25
Yes
13
32.5
Yes
97
60.62
No
3
3.75
No
27
67.5
No
63
39.38
Total
80
100
Total
40
100
Total
160
100
From Table 7, 77 academic respondents representing 96.25% agreed that they have personally used educational cloud computing applications for teaching
or learning purpose. Less than half of the sampled non-academic staff respondents have used cloud computing for teaching or learning purpose. More
than half of the student respondents have personally used educational cloud computing applications for learning purpose.
Table 8: Institutional support on the usage of cloud computing applications
Q3b
ACADEMIC STAFF
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
STUDENTS
Have you received any
training or support from
your institution in using
educational cloud
computing applications?
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Response
Freq.
%
Yes
11
13.75
Yes
8
20
Yes
62
38.75
No
69
86.25
No
32
80
No
98
61.25
Total
80
100
Total
40
100
Total
160
100
From Table 8, the academic staff, non-academic staff and student respondents did not receive any significant training or support from their institution on
the usage of educational cloud computing applications.
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1396
Table 9a: Purpose of Using of cloud computing application for teaching and learning by academic staff
ACADEMIC STAFF
S/N
Q3ci. purpose of using
educational cloud computing
applications
Strongly
agree
(%)
Agree
(%)
Disagree
(%)
Strongly
disagree
(%)
Mean
Standard
deviation
Decision
1
I use Cloud Computing
Application (CCA) for Online
teaching and virtual
classrooms
32
48
0
0
3.40
0.49
Accepted
2
I use CCA for Collaborative
document editing and sharing
22
56
2
0
3.25
0.49
Accepted
3
I use CCA for Online
assessment and quizzes
10
15
30
25
2.13
0.99
Rejected
4
I use CCA for Research and
data analysis
50
28
2
0
3.60
0.54
Accepted
5
I use CCA for Communication
with colleagues or students
74
6
0
0
3.93
0.27
Accepted
6
I use CCA for Administrative
tasks (record-keeping,
scheduling)
2
12
66
0
2.20
0.46
Rejected
Grand mean
3.08
From Table 9a above, usage of cloud computing application for online teaching and virtual classrooms by academic staff in the studied area returned a
mean of 3.25 greater than the cut of mean of 2.5, it is therefore accepted. On a similar note, usage of cloud computing application for collaborative
document editing and sharing return an acceptance mean 3.25. Usage of cloud computing application research and data analysis and communication with
colleagues or student by academic staff returned an acceptance mean of 3.60 and 3.93 respectively. Usage of cloud computing application for online
assessment and quizzes and for administrative purpose returned a rejection mean of 2.13 and 2.2 respectively. This simply means that academic staff in
the research area rarely use cloud computing application for online assessment of their students’ quizzes and administrative task. Generally, acceptable
grand mean of 3.08, indicate that academic staff use cloud computing for the tasks outlined in Table 9a.
Table 9b: Purpose of Using of cloud computing application for teaching and learning by non- academic staff
NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
S/N
Q3cii. purpose of use of
educational cloud computing
applications
Strongly
agree
(%)
Agree
(%)
Disagree
(%)
Strongly
disagree
(%)
Mean
Standard
deviation
Decision
1
I use Cloud Computing
Application (CCA) for Online
teaching and virtual classrooms
0
1
18
21
1.50
0.55
Rejected
2
I use CCA for Collaborative
document editing and sharing
21
15
4
0
3.40
0.68
Accepted
3
I use CCA for Online
assessment and quizzes
0
0
28
12
1.70
0.46
Rejected
4
I use CCA for Research and
data analysis
15
20
4
1
3.20
0.73
Accepted
5
I use CCA for Communication
with colleagues or students
12
17
8
3
2.95
0.90
Accepted
6
I use CCA for Administrative
tasks (record-keeping,
scheduling)
31
7
1
1
3.70
0.65
Accepted
Grand mean
2.74
From Table 9b above, non- academic staff do not use cloud computing applications for online teaching, virtual classroom, online assessment of quizzes,
because these two tasks returned a rejection mean of 1.50 and 1.70 respectively. However, there is strong indication that non- academic staff use cloud
computing for collaborative document editing and sharing, communication among colleagues and students, research and data analysis and carrying out
administrative task. The acceptance grand mean of 2.74 recorded in Table 9b is an indication that non-academic staff in the research area also employ
the usage of cloud computing application in their day to day activities.
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1397
Table 9c: Purpose of Using of cloud computing application for teaching and learning by students
STUDENTS
S/N
Q3ciii. purpose of use of
educational cloud computing
applications
Strongly
agree
(%)
Agree
(%)
Disagree
(%)
Strongly
disagree
(%)
Mean
Standard
deviation
Decision
1
I use Cloud Computing
Application (CCA) for Online
teaching and virtual classrooms
12
10
114
24
2.06
0.72
Rejected
2
I use CCA for Collaborative
document editing and sharing
52
47
30
31
2.75
1.11
Accepted
3
I use CCA for Online
assessment and quizzes
15
18
109
18
2.19
0.75
Rejected
4
I use CCA for Research and
data analysis
08
25
91
36
2.03
0.76
Rejected
5
I use CCA for Communication
with colleagues or students
13
124
20
3
2.92
0.53
Accepted
6
I use CCA for Administrative
tasks (record-keeping,
scheduling)
12
11
100
37
1.98
0.78
Rejected
Grand mean
2.32
From Table 9c above, students to a larger extent do not use cloud computing applications for online teaching, virtual classroom, online assessment of
quizzes, research and data analysis and administrative tasks because these tasks returned a rejection mean of 2.06, 2.19, 2.03 and 1.98 respectively.
However, there is strong indication that students use cloud computing for collaborative document editing, sharing and communication among themselves.
The rejection grand mean of 2.32 recorded in Table 10 is an indication that students in the research area do not effectively employ the usage of cloud
computing application in their day to day academic activities.
4.0 Discussion
Analysis of the gathered data indicate that only a negligible number of academic staff do not use cloud computing applications. Close to half of the non-
academic staff respondents (45%) currently use cloud computing applications while only one-fourth of the students (26%) currently use cloud computing,
there is therefore need to further educate the students about the benefit derivable from the usage of cloud computing applications. Result of the study
indicated that in addition to the commonest cloud computing applications such as google apps, gmail, instagram, zoom and Facebook, a few academic
staff use highly educational relevant applications like turnitin, moodle and dropbox. Non-academic staff respondents use common cloud computing
applications and hardly use highly educational inclined applications such as moodle and flicker. Students like non-academic staff respondents use the
common cloud computing applications that are socially inclined and avoid those cloud computing applications highly educationally inclined. From the
study it can be inferred that majority of the academic staff became aware of the existence of cloud computing applications designed for educational
support through self-discovery while carrying out personal research. Almost half of the non-academic staff respondents are not aware of the existence of
such educational support applications and those with awareness, gained awareness through colleagues and self-discovery. Majority of the students are
also not aware of the existence of such applications. Few students who were aware, gained awareness of cloud computing through their peers and majorly
through self-discovery. Evidence from the study clearly show that cloud computing applications are deployed by academic staff in the studied area for
online teaching, virtual classroom, collaborative document editing and sharing, research and data analysis and communication with colleagues or students.
On the other hand, non- academic staff also use cloud computing for performing such tasks as collaborative document editing and sharing, communication
among colleagues and students, research and data analysis and carrying out administrative task. Student hardly use cloud computing for a highly inclined
educational tasks, rather, they deploy cloud computing applications for collaborative document editing, sharing and communication among themselves.
5.0 Conclusion
This research work investigated the level of awareness and usage of educational cloud computing applications in tertiary institutions in Kebbi State,
Nigeria. Result from the study indicated that majority of the respondents who currently use cloud computing applications gained awareness through self-
discovery and interaction with their colleagues. There is no deliberate efforts from the sampled respondents’ institutions to organize training, workshops,
professional conferences to intimate them about the enormous benefits accruing from the usage of cloud computing applications. Result from the study
also indicated that besides few academic staff who use highly educational cloud computing applications such as turnitin, moodle and flicker, majority of
the respondents use cloud computing applications for social networking activities. The study therefore recommends that tertiary institutions should
organize workshops and conferences for both the staff and students on how to maximize the usage of highly educational enhancing cloud computing
applications.
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 9, pp 1391-1398 September 2023 1398
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