Solar powered internet school opens world of possibilities

Mar 24, 2013

How do you get a state of the art internet school in the remotest corner of Africa without electricity, buildings and other infrastructure?

By Vision Reporter

How do you get a state of the art internet school in the remotest corner of Africa without electricity, buildings and other infrastructure?

You do what Samsung has done. You convert a 40 foot shipping container into a solar powered internet classroom that can fit 21 students at a time.

The classroom exhibited at the Samsung Africa Forum 2013 in Cape Town has solar panels on the roof that can generate up to 9 hours of electricity per day. When fully charged the lessons can be conducted for three days without sunshine.

The solar panels on the roof run 24 laptops and a 50 inch interactive electronic board and Wi-Fi cameras. The solar panels are made of rubber so the classroom can be transported and set up in remote areas without breaking the panels.

Inside the class temperature are kept normal by padding and ventilation. The Samsung internet solar-powered note books, Galaxy tablets open up a world of wonder to the students who have access to any curriculum resources available on the internet.

The benefits from the curriculum and connectivity are unlimited. As for supervision, authorized officials at the school, district and national level can log in and see what is going on in the classroom through the Wi-Fi Cameras.

The laptops are fitted with asset management software to ensure that they are locked to the specific school and classroom. If someone stole the laptop it would not work in a different environment. The students can however be allowed to take the laptops home.

According to Leonard Tleane of the Samsung Solar Powered Internet School, “With power and internet connectivity, the students are guaranteed as modern an education as you can get anywhere in the modern world.”

The solar classrooms have already been deployed in Rwanda, Botswana, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola.

Another innovation launched at the Forum is the Solar Powered Health Centre. These are built for use in remote areas. They are mounted on a truck and operated by qualified medical personnel and can move from one area to another providing a range of medical services to the public.

Robert Ngeri, the Samsung Chief Operating Officer for East and Central Africa said the electronics giant is committed to Africa and will continue to provide innovative products and services for the continent.

“Africa is critical for Samsung because it is the next biggest growth market for technology. Some African countries have jumped to higher technologies in telephony making their networks more intelligent than some in the first world,” he said.
 

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