Cloud Computing and Adoption in Community Colleges

The purpose of this article is to examine “Cloud Computing” in Community Colleges. The “Cloud” refers to storing electronic data remotely; that is, on another entity’s servers. For example, UHCL has servers that store data for its student population. The Cloud would allow UHCL to absolve itself of data handling responsibilities to a third party. All data would still be available to students, staff and faculty…it would just be hosted remotely. This is important because it may be cost advantageous in the long-run for Community Colleges. If it is financially advantageous, the cost savings would trickle down to not only the student, but to taxpayers as well.

This article is proposition advancing as it offers recommendations to community college administrators and others who seek to incorporate cloud-based recommendations into their higher education curriculum.

Hypothesis 1: Usefulness perceptions and ease-of-use perceptions will affect the student

usage of the cloud computing tool.

Hypothesis 2: Usefulness perceptions and ease-of-use perceptions will affect student

beliefs about future utility of the cloud computing tool.

Hypothesis 3: Usefulness perceptions and ease-of-use perceptions will affect student

intentions for future use of cloud computing tools.

Hypothesis 4: Student attitudes about technology will affect usefulness and ease of use.

Hypothesis 5: Situational factors will affect usefulness and ease of use.

Hypothesis 6: Student experiences with the cloud computing tool will affect usefulness and ease

of use.

One important finding is the discrepancy between the actual usage during a given semester and the intention to use the tools at some point in the future. It appears that students in this setting form impressions about the technology based on their immediate needs, rather than the anticipated future needs. The study found that the ease-of-use perception was a much stronger predictor of adoption than the usefulness perception. This indicates that students may acknowledge the utility of a tool, but lack the motivation to use it if it is not user friendly.

What this means for administrators that an extensive cost benefit analysis must be considered before adopting such technologies. Within the costs, administrators must take into account user perception of Cloud adoption as much as the cost savings associated with it.

Tara S. Behrend*, Eric N. Wiebe, Jennifer E. London and Emily C. Johnson

Department of Organizational Sciences & Communication, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA;

 Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Federal

Management Partners, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, USA

(Received 15 September 2009; final version received 21 April 2010)

Behaviour & Information Technology

Vol. 30, No. 2, March–April 2011, 231–240