Cloud startup, Box has been in the news recently for its expected IPO. The company is trying to bolster its enterprise customer base by announcing new services and partnerships in education. This is the startup’s major push into the education sector on
a global scale.
The focal point of the new services on offer allows teachers and students to store content in the cloud and manage it using a different educational technology tool. This is for both K-12 and higher education setups on an international level.
A recent trend that has emerged in Asia and elsewhere is the usage of cloud based products in higher education institutes. A relevant example would be that of Edmodo
, which is dubbed as the educational social network. Likewise, there is Canvas which is a type of learning management system. Such networks have improved communication between the teacher-student and allow sharing on multiple platforms.
Box is looking forward to expanding the connection between global schools and universities. The bigger picture – it would make career planning easier through access to more content.
For instance, healthcare is one domain that has transformed rapidly due to technology input. Now the number of degrees offered and accreditations have increased greatly during the last few years. The hierarchy within areas like pharmacy and medicine is quite long, and students can choose from a number of careers if they have access to appropriate content. The Sanford Brown pharmacy tech
school is an appropriate example of such expansion on two accounts.
Firstly, it realizes the increase of programs and accordingly offers pharmacy technician’s license so that technicians in this area can qualify for better jobs. Secondly, the school also makes use educational technology to keep their students updated on the latest development in their respective field. Like if a state legislation has been introduced regarding pharma, they would be updated.
Box has already made its contribution to the healthcare institutes and organizations with its HIPAA-compliant measures (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and health record apps. Some of these apps are being used at the ICGEB (International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) in India.
Box believes that their latest reforms would help adaptation of technology in schools since they are the slowest to do so. Currently, in India, schools are using storage tools that are mostly FTP software based. Some have started to move to the cloud
, following a global trend.
A survey
conducted by CDW indicates that 43 percent of higher education and 42 percent of K-12 schools would adopt or maintain cloud services by the end of the year. This would be an improvement over last year figures of 34 percent and 27 percent respectively.
Box isn’t a new addition to education. It has already made its mark in more than 100 college and universities globally. In India, most applications are related to the IT based education.
Under the new platform, some educational technology tools would be included with Box. One of them is Engrade, which would allow teachers to grade assignments and papers. Then there is Celly which is a group texting service to improve teacher-student interaction. 9Slides is another feature that has been added for making interactive presentations.
One major feature that would be available is in the form of an integration partnership with Canvas. Canvas’ learning management system would allow teachers and students to access all course material from one central location. This would also reduce the data management load of educational institutes.
With the company’s IPO on the cards, these measures would definitely improve Box’s financial situation in the market.
