Usability of Cloud Computing in Educational Communities of Practice: A Case Study of for Youth for Life Tool (FYFL)

Abstract

This research paper reports the experimental process and empirical usability information of a collaborative tool or system that addresses issues related to managing community of practice groups. The initial part of research considers security, technophobia and limited computer skills as main factors limiting collaboration among members of a community of practice. This research strives to provide and validate a secure, extensible and flexible computer supportive collaborative work (CSCW) tool that is easy to use and learn. The research proposes a computational framework that can manage and limit fictitious memberships within groups. The empirical usability study among potential users, validates that users can access information and collaborate effectively through a cloud tool, For Youth For Life (FYFL. The expert responses also validate the cloud tool as well. Our major contribution is the proposed group management model, universal quadrant model (UQM) aimed at mitigating insider threat within virtual groups and is validated through a simulation. The model is implemented based on a Tree structure with a theoretical run time of O(nlog₄n) with a high theoretical significant performance compared to the base case of O(n). The adoption and success of the cloud tool and its value as a secure and ease to use, was heavily supported on its usability acceptance test by likely users in line with computer supportive collaborative work theory and human computer interaction research. The final usability acceptance test and the effective user evaluation acceptance tests results indicate that the cloud tool is easy to use and learn.