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A simulation model for educational process planning in an institution of higher education
In universities and technical colleges with relevant IT qualifications in one semester multiple streams, courses and specializations can use software products for training purposes. IT services of universities should deal with the challenge of creating the infrastructure of educational applications that can support the educational process. We note that the number of specializations which study information technology are growing every year (for example, in HSE there are disciplines-minors, which can enroll students coming from any field). Also in the recent years, online courses have started to become popular. If the load is not planned ahead taking into account future trends, the power of even the most high-tech infrastructure will be insufficient. Calculation of the corresponding load on the infrastructure must be made in the planning process of the disciplines, so that we can reserve appropriate facilities, and thus organize an effective learning process.
Software developers use a variety of benchmarking tools that are complex and do not provide the necessary information for the participants of educational process planning.
This article discusses the construction of a simulation model that supports the educational process planning. The simulation is carried out using the capabilities of the tool AnyLogic 7. The aim of this work is to develop a simulation model designed to estimate the load on the information system used in the educational process. In addition, besides the description of the model, the article presents the results of calculations used for various options of the information system (private cloud or on a server at the university). The simulation results were confirmed by data obtained during practical classes at the university. This model gives us the opportunity to plan the educational process in order to achieve uniformity of the load on the services. If necessary, the model allows us to make a decision about the location of the educational information system: on servers of the university or in a private cloud.