Teaching from the cloud: a school in the clouds
The WISS Schools for Business, Informatics and Real Estate is bringing an innovation to computer science teaching with its own cloud solution. Cloud computing is now to be a fixed component in the teaching of computer science students and for this the WISS has developed an in-house development and learning environment.
The new education ordinance "BIVO21" stipulates that cloud computing is to be integrated into the teaching of EFZ IT apprentices. The theoretical requirements are specified by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The practical implementation is left to the respective schools themselves. The WISS Schulen für Wirtschaft Informatik Immobilien AG, an educational institute with over 85 years of experience, is breaking new ground in teaching cloud computing. The two WISS lecturers and developers Sascha Carroccio and Fatlum Amza as well as product manager Benca Banjac have joined forces and developed their own cloud for teaching cloud computing. Teaching from the cloud - this means an innovation in the education of basic vocational education. So far, no other school has developed such an own cloud, which serves solely for the training of future IT specialists in the classroom.
Teaching cloud computing in a practical way
As a result of the new education ordinance, the courses for EFZ computer scientists include three modules that deal specifically with the topic of the cloud and require teachers to have in-depth cloud expertise in "Using the public cloud for applications", "Operating and monitoring services in the public cloud" and "Designing and implementing cloud solutions". In many places, the development and management of a cloud is usually taught on a theoretical basis, as the providers of commercial cloud solutions often do not allow the modeling and reprogramming of such. Thus, a practical solution was needed. The WISS project team therefore designed a cloud that enables learners to put their theoretical knowledge into practice hands-on.
Teaching from the cloud ready for launch in fall 2022
"Last but not least, the cloud "WaaS" should also serve WISS directly and minimize dependency on third-party providers. The developed open-stack solution should also have a cost-saving effect due to its arbitrary scalability," says Benza Banjac, Product Manager Basic Education at WISS. WaaS is managed by the WISS Schulen für Wirtschaft Informatik Immobilen itself and support is also fully handled in-house.
"WaaS" will be ready for launch in time for the start of the semester of the EFZ computer scientist training in fall 2022. Currently, it has a 2-tier architecture based on a dual-server setup running in a cluster. WISS plans to expand and enlarge the environment in the future to ensure even better availability.
Source and further information: www.wiss.ch
