Using TV White Spaces and e-Learning in South African rural schools

Author

Masonta, Moshe T. ; Ramoroka, Tlou M. ; Lysko, Albert A.

Author_Institution

Tshwane Univ. of Technol., Pretoria, South Africa

fYear

2015

fDate

6-8 May 2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

12

Abstract

This paper uses the example of the television white space (TVWS) project in Limpopo Province of South Africa to consider benefits of TVWS technology to enable e-Learning environment and introduce pupils and teachers previously unfamiliar with Internet to information and communication technologies (ICT) including Internet. The Limpopo TVWS project uses TVWS to provide broadband Internet to five schools which are up to 10 km away around the University of Limpopo (UL) in the rural Mankweng Township. Each one of the participating five schools was donated 31 tablets, an overhead projector and smart phone to enable e-learning delivery. The paper presents preliminary results on a socio-economic study conducted at the five participating schools, and also discusses various benefits of availability of connectivity and of e-Learning.

Keywords

Internet; computer aided instruction; educational institutions; notebook computers; smart phones; socio-economic effects; television; ICT; Limpopo province; South African rural schools; TV white spaces; TVWS; UL; University of Limpopo; broadband Internet; e-learning delivery; e-learning environment; information and communication technologies; overhead projector; pupils; rural Mankweng township; smart phone; socio-economic study; tablets; teachers; Broadband communication; Electronic learning; Information and communication technology; Internet; TV; White spaces; Limpopo; TV white space; broadband; e-Learning; rural broadband; television white space; trial;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

IST-Africa Conference, 2015

Conference_Location

Lilongwe

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2015.7190564

Filename

7190564