An Inside Look at Globe’s API Offers: Why Should Schools Go Digital?

Last May 4, the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) held their Second Annual General Meeting at The Globe Tower in BGC. It was attended by members of GDAP, many of whom are distinguished and exemplary figures in the field of education.

While there, Globe took the opportunity to push the various solutions they have to offer to game developers, app makers and even tech business owners in the country. Some key insights surfaced during the talk of Globe Digital Ventures Product Manager Mara Garcia, who highlighted the specific APIs developers can benefit from in creating, managing and marketing their apps.

Here’s what we learned from her talk:

• • An Application Programming Interface (API) is a channel through which several apps can communicate with each other on one network. These APIs allow app creators to shorten development time and create multiple customer touch points.
    • On the side of your customers, you can do more for them by making their app experience easier and more hassle-free.
    • On your end, APIs make your app easier and faster to launch, since you can focus on your app’s core feature and partner with outside forces who are more experienced in the development of other functions you need.
  • The potential for growth and revenue in mobile gaming is high. As the smartphone industry continues to grow, more and more people go online through their phones, and about half of them play mobile games.
• Globe Digital Ventures offers a number of APIs that creators can use to make their app building quicker and easier. True to Globe’s nature, these APIs mostly focus on communication, but they’re great for many other things, too, like mobile gaming, in-app purchasing and rewards programs
• In particular, six types of APIs* were highlighted in Mara’s talk:

• • SMS – allows business owners to send mass texts to customers through the app;
  • Voice – allows business owners to send and receive calls through the app;
  • Location – allows business owners to track mobile devices, which helps them keep track of their logistics and deliveries;
  • Sponsored Access – allows business owners to provide free data to their customers, which the entrepreneurs reimburse to Globe;
  • Rewards – allows business owners to offer Globe-sourced freebies or promos to customers like load and SKUs;
  • Charging – (currently in progress and still unavailable) allows business owners to charge customer payments to the customers’ Globe bill

As part of Globe’s push for education, the teachers and school administrators present at the event were also questioned on why digitizing is so important for the industry of education.

“We [have] to answer the needs of the current generation,” said Rhea Valbuena of Asia Pacific College. “If the need is digital transformation, then we need to meet that. […] We make sure that our teachers are equipped with the right skills, so we have to coordinate with the industry.”

“Students these days [don’t respond as much] to traditional methods. They’re more engaged by digital ways of teaching and better able to grasp their lessons that way,” said Lourice Sillano of Asian College. When asked about how they’re developing their curriculums to respond to that, she answered, “We’re still more on traditional [learning], but we’re planning to have different modules as well as purchasing different software.”

“We need to train our kids to adapt to global standards, not just local,” said Joie Sales of iAcademy. “In our case, we use a Learning Management System. We are still evaluating Canvas. But for my program, I mandate the use of [digital technology] in every subject […] so teachers and students could get used to online learning.”

As Joie says, kids shouldn’t be constrained to the classroom. Being in a lifelong learning setup is the best way to ensure that the society of the future is able to adapt and improve according to the digital progress made in the world. Thus, going digital in the field of education is no longer just a goal, it’s a necessity.

It’s time to digitize your school with Globe myBusiness!

*If you want more details on these APIs, check out Globe Labs’ website.

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