ISEDJ

Information Systems Education Journal

Volume19

V19 N5 Pages 10-14

Oct 2021


Transition to Amazon AWS from a Traditional Cluster-Based Information Technology Classroom


Vamsi Gondi
Ball State University
Muncie, IN USA

David Hua
Ball State University
Muncie, IN USA

Biju Bajracharya
Ball State University
Muncie, IN USA

Abstract: In the age of COVID-19, traditional teaching techniques are under scrutiny. Most concepts and labs in the area of information technology are intended to be taught face-to-face in labs using clusters and networking infrastructure. Simulation software’s are good alternative, but are not always a viable solution. Simulation software is used primarily to understand, remember, and apply the concepts rather than analyze evaluate and create the content. Due to unforeseen conditions during March 2020, educational institutions were required to shut down. In the middle of the semester, instructors had to determine how to complete the labs and final projects which are crucial to accomplishing the intended learning outcomes of their courses. A chosen alternative was to use Amazon AWS as a cloud platform to host the labs and projects. It was initially a challenge as students had not had the opportunity to learn how to work with AWS in advance. Training sessions were provided to help them understand how to deploy and connect virtual servers in AWS to build a virtual private cloud. Prior to the pandemic, students developed and deployed their labs and projects on a departmental cluster which was on-premise at the university. With AWS, it was challenging to design an architecture to host 19 services offered as a part of the project requirements for an organization network. This paper presents the scope of this project; the intended outcomes of the project, how students were able to implement the project requirements in the AWS environment; the intended learning outcomes; and the results of student surveys to assess the learning outcome of using AWS and traditional cluster.

Download this article: ISEDJ - V19 N5 Page 10.pdf


Recommended Citation: Gondi, V., Hua, D., Bajracharya, B., (2021). Transition to Amazon AWS from a Traditional Cluster-Based Information Technology Classroom. Information Systems Education Journal19(5) pp 10-14. http://ISEDJ.org/2021-5/ ISSN : ISSN: 1545-679X. A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of EDSIGCON 2020