1. C LOUD C OMPUTING AND ITS A PPLICATION IN T UTORIAL M ANAGEMENT : AN A CTION R ESEARCH A PPROACH By John K. Thuku, Prof Henry O. Ayot and Dr Samson Ondigi Kenyatta University, Nairobi Presented at the 4 th International Conference on Education Capacity Building through Teacher Quality Teacher Education. 14-16 th July 2015, Nairobi, Kenya

2. I NTRODUCTION Cloud computing is fairly recent technology where organizations: Use third party Internet-based servers and computing services. Manage their operations without necessarily building and maintaining the networking infrastructure. Learning institutions, for example: Deliver courses without necessarily worrying about the underlying architecture and technical issues. The learning system is: Cost effective and scalable to the institution. Flexible and accessible to students and education service providers.

3. C LOUD C OMPUTING Defined as an “Internet-based facility that allows users to access shared computer applications, storage and other resources through a network of remote servers as a service” Are there opportunities to improve the learning delivery?

4. R ESEARCH Q UESTIONS What are the requirements for implementing cloud computing in learning systems? Is tutorial teaching approach a suitable prototype for the learning systems? Is action research a suitable approach to study, deploy and improve learning delivery? Does the country have the necessary infrastructure for cloud computing? Is the population ready for cloud computing?

5. L EVELS OF SERVICE IN CLOUD COMPUTING Software as a Service (SaaS) Application software, learning management software, plagiarism detection software. Platform as a Service (PaaS) Platform for application development, web design tools. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Computing infrastructure: servers, storage, networks.

6. C HALLENGES IN C LOUD C OMPUTING Privacy and security of data and information stored offsite. Reliability of bandwidth Rivalry and Malicious Interferences

7. M ODELS IN L EARNING S YSTEMS Private Cloud Public Cloud Hybrid Cloud

8. ICT B ASED E DUCATION S YSTEMS These are applications for learning delivery and management that use ICT. Scope of functionalities has gradually expanded from basic content delivery to complex systems for: Student management Enrollment. Course management Course outlines, calendar, tutor programmed and self assessments. Learning content – production tools, storage, delivery. Communication and feedback Emails, learner discussion forum, social media, teleconferencing. Administration Reporting Commonly referred to as: Learning Management Systems (LMS) E-Learning Systems

9. T UTORIAL AS E-L EARNING S YSTEM Tutorial is a method of teaching: Students are taught in small groups, sometimes individually. It’s a discussion-oriented meeting facilitated by the tutor. Universities such as Oxford and Cambridge use tutorial method with ICT integration. Activities in tutorial process include: Registration and Enrollment to tutorial sessions. Scheduling & Administration of the sessions. Assessment and grading. Communication among students and with lecturers. Group/Class discussions and interaction. Learning materials are provided and assignments presented as papers. Tutorial process is representative for E-Learning.

10. S YSTEM D EVELOPMENT P ROCESS Systems development life cycle (SDLC) is the formal process to build ICT based systems. Has a number of stages or phases: Feasibility study System analysis and design System acquisition Implementation System maintenance. An expert, usually a system analyst or one who is conversant the present system and has ICT knowledge, leads the process and involves users/stakeholder in all stages.

11. A CTION R ESEARCH AND E-L EARNING S YSTEMS Action research is study approach that focuses on efforts to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. Typically designed and conducted by educators who analyze the data to improve their teaching practices. It is a scholarly approach to improve teaching and learning. Benefit learners, lecturers, librarians and administrators because it’s a collaborative study that directly impacts on their practices. In action research, a researcher can isolate a process, function or method that represents areas that need change. For tutorial learning process Study/research with the aim of building an improved system.

12. A CTION R ESEARCH C YCLE Cycle 1 Initial Plan Reflect Observe Act Continual Progress Cycle 2 Revised Plan Reflect Observe Act

13. N ATIONAL I NTERNET & M OBILE P HONE A CCESS ServiceJan-Mar 2013 Apr-Jun 2013 Jul-Sept 2013 Oct-Dec 2013 Jan-Mar 2014 Apr-Jun 2014 Jul- Sept 2014 Oct-Dec 2014 Mobile Subscriptions (million)29.830.531.3 31.832.232.833.6 Mobile penetration percent75.877.376.9 78.279.280.582.6 Local Short Messaging Service(SMS) billion 4.084.375.056286.226.896.977.29 Data/Internet Subscriptions (million) 9.612.413.113.314.014.816.4 Internet users, estimate (million)16.419.619.221.321.622.323.226.1 Population with Internet Access (%) 41.649.747.152.353.354.857.164.3 International internet bandwidth available in the country (Mbps) 921319862850862834862474865714847464847515847523 Total International Internet Bandwidth Used (Mbps) 307307356875360900365413447064436016478074498121 Source: Communications Authority of Kenya, Quarterly reports: Jan 2013-Dec 2014

14. C ONCLUSION Cloud computing is an important technology that enable all kinds of organizations, big or small, to scale down on their requirements in adopting ICT: Save on infrastructure and technical costs and access to the modern ICT applications and tools. Tutorials process as an e-learning system has functions: Student enrollment; course management; development and delivery of learning materials; communication and feedback. Data available about Kenya indicates that the country is ready and learning institutions can adopt cloud computing. This paper advocates for action research in guiding educational institutions to successfully migrate to new or better ICT based learning systems.

15. T HANK YOU.