School's out
Satellites are a very effective means of transferring educational content over a wide geographical area and in remote places. Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an integral part of the educational world and access to the internet is of paramount importance. Tele-education projects using satellite commumications and supported by ESA are continuing to make a difference in rural schools all over the world, and especially in Africa.
Going to school in remote areas is already challenging and local educational buildings generally lack modern connectivity facilities. ESA supported projects like SchoolSat, SchoolCast, and Sway4edu provide local schools with broadband connectivity where no terrestrial networks are available. The general setup provided through ESA includes Internet connectivity and access for teachers and students to eLearning, media content and online monitoring tools and information via satellite.
The pilot sites are connected to Internet and to the Openet eLearning platform via small satellite terminals (1.2 meter dishes in African countries) connected to the Astra series of geostationary satellites. Pilot users get access to the services via standard laptops and tablets and can share lessons in classrooms via a projector and a screen.
Developed with the help of ESA's ARTES Applications programme, these services can be used to support teachers and students during the day and also provide educational media and entertainment in the evening for the whole community. As reference books are a scarce resource in these schools, access to the Internet and a projector are even more precious. Being able to use e-mail and Skype also allows students to communicate and stay in touch with family and friends as well as with other connected schools.
Selected teachers in each of the schools follow the e-Learning modules to learn how to operate the digital projector, screen and speakers, and are then able to bring their colleagues up to speed. As such the level of education and general well-being of the whole community is improved. Following successes in several pilot projects, such as the one in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, satcoms are set to expand in many rural communities across the world.
The e-Learning platform and the Internet connectivity are offered in these pilot projects by Italy’s Openet Technologies, in partnership with Luxembourg’s satellite broadband operator SES Techcom Services, which owns and manages the Astra Connect service.
