Satcom enabled schools also get Universe in a box
HE Space Children's Foundation is supporting the ESA Artes application project Sway4edu2. Satellite terminals provide Internet connectivity, with solar panels and batteries (where needed), laptops, tablets, a projector with screen, and loudspeakers. However internet connectivity alone is not enough. We provide the Universe in a box as a start for education in astronomy.
Sway4edu2 is focused on both education and capacity building.
It realises a cluster of 12 satcom-enabled schools in the rural area of Mpumalanga in South Africa (in partnership with Singita ) and 1 school (3 classes, about 75 students) in a rural area of the Basilicata Region (Italy) (in partnership with the Education Department of the Basilicata region) for the development of competences in IT and in the preservation of the natural environment.
It also realises a cluster of 20 satcom enabled radio stations in the rural area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (in partnership with FAO) in order to promote the usage of the Openet “cloud” services. This allows radio stations to generate their own radio programmes (e.g. about food security) and to share them online with the other radios, enabling collaborative post-production of the content before final FM broadcasting to the rural local communities.