Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and public and private cloud communities continue to flourish in the field of higher education. However, MOOCs have received criticism in recent years and offer little benefit to students already enrolled at an institution. This article advocates for the collaborative creation and use of institutional, program or student-specific private cloud communities developed as a way to promote academic identity, information dissemination, social discourse, and to form a bridge between faculty, administration and students. Concrete steps to build a private cloud are described. Placing a greater emphasis on meeting the needs of enrolled students versus engaging the masses in a MOOC for “edutainment” purposes is recommended.

Keywords

cloud · cloud computing · educational technology · learning platforms · online learning · technology instruction · virtual communities