Vuclip Provides Free Educational Videos to Mobile Phone Users
Mobile video service Vuclip announced today that it opens a video portal dedicated to education videos called edu. The videos are created to supplement education for K-12) and higher education across the world, and it can be watched on 5,500 internet-enabled mobile handsets, even including the most basic phones.
So far all the educational videos are provided by the famous non-profit educational organization Khan Academy. While currently the educational videos on Vuclip’s new channel are only in English language, eventually the company plans to roll out course materials in other languages too.
モバイルビデオサービスVuclipはeduと呼ばれる教育ビデオ専用のビデオポータルを開設することを本日発表した。ビデオは世界中の高等教育とK-12）の補完教育用に作成され、そして一番使用されるベーシックフォンを含む5500のインターネット対応携帯電話で視聴することができる。
これまでのところ、教育ビデオはすべて、有名な非営利教育団体Khan Academyによって提供されている。現在、 Vuclipの新しいチャンネルの教育ビデオは英語のみだが、同社は最終的には他の言語の教材も展開する計画していく予定だ。
モバイル動画サービスVuclipは今日、「edu」と呼ばれる教育動画専門のポータルを開設することを発表した。動画は世界中の幼稚園から高校までの学習範囲をカバーする補足的な教育用、および高等教育向けとして作成される。インターネットに接続可能な5500の携帯電話から視聴することが可能で、その中には本当に必要最低限の機能しかない携帯電話もその中に含まれる。
これまでのところ、教育用動画はすべて、著名な教育専門の非営利組織Khan Academyが提供している。現在、Vuclipの新しいチャンネル上で視聴できる教育用動画は英語版のみだが、同社は後に他言語でも教材を公開することを計画している。
Would Vuclip’s new educational video channel prove to be a success? So far all indicators say yes, particularly for India. According to a recent global education survey made by the company, more than 50 percent of the respondents in India said that they are restricted by money matters when it comes to choosing their ideal education. They are quite open to studying at home, and 82 percent of Indians are open to receiving education through their phones.
Vuclip CEO and founder Dr. Nickhil Jakatdar shared his vision with the new educational channel:
VuclipのCEO兼創設者であるNickhil Jakatdar博士は、新しい教育チャンネルで彼の考えを披露した。
Vuclipの最高経営責任者兼創業者であるNickhil Jakatdar博士は新しい教育専門チャンネルと博士のビジョンについて、次のように語った。
Inclusive education is possible only when good and fresh educational content is universally and continually accessible through better discovery methods. Mobile video transcends all language barriers and can help democratize education. Vuclip today has more than 14 million active monthly users in India and this number is growing quickly. This is a readily available platform through which Indian universities and institutes can participate in making quality education accessible to the masses anywhere, anytime.
Vuclip raised $13 million in series D funding late last year, and has seen its download numbers passed the one million mark in December. Among Vuclip’s biggest users are big feature phone markets like India, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. Looking at this fact, I’m curious if the company will prioritize rolling out localized languages of the new educational channel for Indonesia. I hope it does.
Education startups rock
I think this is a great move by Vuclip, as it now enables more people to access free education online, even when they don’t have smartphones. People who cannot afford high quality education or equipment like computers at home, will find Vuclip’s new channel very helpful. It’s awesome.
There aren’t a lot of mentions about education startups these days, at least when compared to the startups focusing in other industries such as gaming, entertainment, e-commerce, and others. One of the issues might be the difficulty in reaching those who really need it. Khan Academy won’t prove to be as effective in Indonesia, for example. In part, because a lot of impoverished schools here don’t provide internet connection for its poor students. But I hope change is about to come soon. With companies like Vuclip as well as the budding educational startups over in Silicon Valley taking the lead, we may see that change.
すいません訂正します。
3行目の
「民主化教育」→「教育の民主化」
「14万人」→「1400万人」
です。