CultusWith the increase of smartphones and mobile devices across all nations, Google and Microsoft are taking a keen interest as to how they can shift their business strategy to spread into the education sector. As a result, both have come up with interesting solutions.
Using the power of the internet, these industry giants have made tremendous efforts into outreach programs that target students from all over the world. We had a chance to have an insight on their latest exploits.
The Browser War
With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has reworked its aging Internet Explorer with the announcement of Edge. This is an attempt to regain their grasp of the users for browsing the net. However, even after all their efforts, Google still has the lead with Chrome. This is clear with over 75% internet users preferring Chrome over Edge which is a huge margin.
Having a dominant internet browser is crucial, as it becomes a major platform for online education. And this is where Microsoft has a severe disadvantage.
Microsoft has recently announced implementing Global CSS to expand Edge as well as pushing them to open source territory to attract developers. Progress has been slow, however, and Google also has a firm foundation with Chrome (which already has all those features).
Search Engine
For the modern day education, students have been relying more and more on the internet resources. Search engines make it very convenient for them to look up whatever they want, so making a robust and satisfactory search engine is profoundly important for either Google or Microsoft.
And once again, this is where Google has the lead. The Google search engine has been the most popular choice across a wide demography. They have even built a custom made variation for students with the Google Scholar, a search engine which refines their result to suit collegiate requirements.
Microsoft’s answer is the Bing search engine which not only has been falling behind in terms of user base, but also overshadowed by Google’s superior searching algorithms
App Market
The increase in the usage of mobile devices has exploded the demand for apps. Even more interesting is the fact that smart phones are becoming popular even in underdeveloped countries. Therefore, it gives both companies a bigger chance to launch superior educational apps for the online store.
This is probably the one place where both are tied. Google Play and Microsoft Store have yet to have a big impact on the educational sector.Microsoft has recently announced Microsoft Education which is a web based application for students. Only time will tell if that gives them a good head start over Google.
Social Media
Building a strong community and network of teachers and students is a big step in online education, and both companies have to compete with Facebook over this.
Google Plus+ has always had a hard time gaining grounds, and Microsoft has recently brought Socl into Windows 10, but lacks the users. Microsoft has however developed a strong network for education in IT with their Microsoft Developer Network.
In conclusion, Google has a greater edge over Microsoft for online education, but the latter company still dominates the OS market, which they can benefit from by expanding to mobile devices.
Author Bio:
Jeremy Ramsay has been writing for OrderMyPapers.com for many years now. He has ten years of writing experience. As a web developer himself, he means to gain inside knowledge as to how the different internet companies are adapting their business model to fit the changing society. For more Follow him on Twitter , Facebook. Google+.
