CACHEBOX: Gateway to fast content
ApplianSys is pleased to announce that Gateway High School in Zimbabwe has chosen CACHEBOX to serve in-demand content including video locally, to ensure instant, congestion-free access in the classroom.
Gateway students must regularly access online curricula and worldwide video resources, so it is vital the school ensures responsive classroom access to the internet throughout the school day.
To take the pressure off the school’s internet link, IT Administrator Nyasha Chigama decided to serve some of the requested content from local storage. Having researched possible caching options and been impressed by the breadth of content CACHEBOX handles, he turned to Solution First (Pvt) Ltd, a long-established CACHEBOX partner in Harare.
Hoping to cache as much school content as possible, Nyasha has not been disappointed. CACHEBOX is serving as much as 73% of all school content locally – gigabytes of content that would have otherwise been downloaded by each individual user, straining school capacity. That figure will increase once Nyasha is able to fully implement HTTPS caching, which he plans to complete once the schools return from their current Covid-19 lockdown.
Learning at Gateway has particularly benefited from one special feature of CACHEBOX – Media Library. Designed to make online lesson content readily accessible and free from the unwanted distractions of the unpoliced internet, Media Library has transformed how teachers and students use the internet. Teachers can select online material including video for their lesson plans and share them directly with students, even offline.
“We’re able to download video material and share them with students as opposed to streaming video off the internet,” says Nyasha. “It’s perfect for us as we can store videos for later viewing or pre-schedule downloads easily.”
“By offloading so much classroom demand to local cache, Gateway doesn’t just prevent congestion, it is able to serve that content at much faster speeds,” says Chris Masaki at Solution First (Pvt) Ltd. “The resulting premium classroom experience keeps Gateway’s teachers and students happy and highly engaged.”
About
Ranked as one of the top ten high schools in Zimbabwe, Gateway High School is a Christian, co-educational, independent school in Harare with 700 students. The school places strong emphasis on educating students to use information, communication, and technology responsibly. Lesson plans, classroom research projects, and examinations leverage online resources from around the world.