E-learning: the importance of availability in virtual learning environments

One of the most important factors in e-learning ventures is the development of a good learning environment. Technically, the distance learning platform must be able to offer the expected dynamics to facilitate student learning and favor the day to day of teachers and instructors.

Within this, the availability of the platform can become a major dilemma, especially for growing institutions, which begin to receive many enrollments. In them, the number of students online simultaneously is large, which increases the responsibility for ensuring stability.

About that, let's talk in this article!

The importance of availability in e-learning 

In IT, availability means that information is always accessible to authorized users. This premise is the guarantee that the system and data can be accessed by authenticated users whenever necessary. 

Along with confidentiality and integrity, availability is of great value. There can be no latencies and slow periods, as the tolerance of online users is usually quite short. 

Availability is typically associated with platform reliability and uptime, which can be affected by non-malicious issues such as hardware failures, unscheduled software downtime and human error, or malicious issues such as cyber attacks and insider threats. 

If the network unexpectedly goes down, users will not be able to access critical data and functionality. Therefore, information security policies and security controls address availability concerns, placing multiple backups and redundancies to ensure continuous uptime and business continuity.

That's why it's critical to invest in a good hosting and management service for the e-learning platform, especially in the cloud. This is the type of service that makes costs more controllable, guarantees flexibility (possibility of increasing and reducing capacities according to demand), mobility, among other benefits.

Download now our Guide to scaling distance learning platforms!

Summing up…

With the sudden shift to remote learning, institutions need technology more than ever to support continuity of teaching and maintain student connections. While finding the right solutions is a crucial part of this, IT teams must also prioritize user experience to ensure these tools are used to their full potential.

In short, any educational institution that wants to continue growing and enrolling more students must pay close attention to the issue of availability, as well as the other fronts involved in information security.


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