Abstract:

Contemporary education involves the use of modern, interactive and innovative technologies. This is a prerequisite for the preparation of market-oriented highly qualified engineering specialists. The dynamic development of computer technology requires Internet connectivity to access these technologies. Cloud technologies allow access to different databases, information systems and computer applications.

Engineering students need to acquire skills to work with cloud technologies during their training. Cloud technologies provide an opportunity for better organization of the learning process in higher education.

When introducing cloud technology in the educational institution, it is possible to control the applications and programs that are used by learners and employees. It is possible to allow programs and communications that are important to the effective learning process and to prohibit others.

The conceptual emphasis is to design and create a functional “cloud” server with a minimal financial investment that allows students, lecturers, and employees to access the files they need in their learning process through an application or a browser.

The paper presents the results of the cloud technology introduced in the process of training students of the Faculty of Physics and Technology at the University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski. On the one hand, the students get acquainted with the theoretical approaches to the implementation of cloud technologies and acquire practical skills in its implementation. On the other hand, the cloud technology itself is used in the organization of the learning process.

The article presents a working platform in which the activities of the consumer groups were created, designed and organized. Following an analysis of existing cloud technologies, Nextcloud technology was chosen. There are user groups are employed: “Teachers”, “Employees” and “Students”. The creation of these groups is done by an authorized administrator. Additionally, the “Teachers” user group is divided into subgroups – “Departments”. The local administrators of the subgroups are the heads of the departments. They distribute assignments to the teachers.

The “Students” group is organized into subgroups of relevant majors and courses. The teachers can give individual or group assignments to the students. The latter have the opportunity to consult the lecturers, including conference calls, and the presentation of the assignments.
Students can create electric circuits, graphs, projects, internet networking schemes, software block diagrams, etc. in the environment of an application developed for the Nextcloud technology.

Keywords:

Education, Innovation, Information Technologies, Cloud technologies, NextCloud, Projects.