Collaborative Cloud-based Online Courses: Issues and Challenges

The number of online courses has been growing rapidly worldwide. Many universities offer online degree courses, short courses and courses for continuing professional development. Online courses can be more economical and also provide flexibility for accessing learning materials through virtual learning environments. However, there are a number of issues which may affect student experience such as style of course delivery, students' learning culture, teaching resources, ownership, etc. Collaboration between universities to design and deliver online courses can have many benefits including cost reduction, enriched educational culture, environment and resources. Students will have opportunities to become involved with wider forums to discuss academic topics and also develop team working skills in this environment. A cloud-based collaborative environment will further enhance team working skills and provide easier and flexible access to resources by students. This paper presents the result of a survey which was conducted to investigate issues and challenges for collaborative cloud-based online course provision.