Qualcomm

Wireless Reach has collaborated on a project with PKUnity Microsystems to bridge the digital gap in China and improve people’s lives through education and technology. The first phase of the initiative provided eight schools in the Chongqing, Jiangxi and Yunnan provinces with wireless Internet access via data cards, PKUnity servers and networked computers.

A special school in Beijing that serves children of migrant workers also received wireless Internet equipment and computers. In the second phase of the project, 18 additional schools were connected in the provinces of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan. Six of the 18 schools are in Deyang city, Sichuan province; a city which was affected by the 8.0 magnitude earthquake in May of 2008 that caused many schools to collapse. In the third phase of the project, the partners have connected 12 more schools in the provinces of Hunan, Guizhou, Xizang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Hubei. This project now reaches more than 40,000 students in the 39 schools.

PARTNERS

• China Telecom
• Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
• PKUnity Microsystems
• China Children and Teenagers’ Fund

Wireless Reach collaborated with the Ministry of Education, Fundación Sergio Paiz, USAID/RTI Alianzas and Telgua to provide the resources to connect rural schools with wireless Internet connectivity through Telgua’s 3G network. The project includes 15 schools within the regions of Alta Verapaz, Escuintla, Petén, Huehuetenango, San Marcos and Izabal to provide infrastructure improvements, 17 computers per school, high-speed 3G wireless connectivity, teaching software and training. The expanse of the project covers the country from the north to the southwest and includes coastal and inland areas. The partners hope this investment and access to the Internet will broaden the students’ minds past the limits of their textbooks. Many of the regions involved are home to various indigenous populations in Guatemala including Peten, the northernmost area in the country, which was the principal territory of the historic Mayan culture.

PARTNERS

• Fundación Sergio Paiz
• Guatemala Ministry of Education
• Telgua (an América Móvil subsidiary)
• USAID/RTI Alianzas

The government of India has made significant gains in reducing the number of children out of school from 27 million in 2003 to just over 9 million in 2007.1 With India's increased focus on education from the primary level, more schools have been built to accommodate the needs of children in rural areas. To help connect students, Wireless Reach has collaborated with Azim Premji Foundation to bring wireless Internet access to nearly 40 government-run schools in underserved communities across four states - Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa and Rajasthan. Through the use of wireless broadband, students used the latest technology to enrich their learning environments. The partners worked to provide web-enabled and regionalized educational content that can be easily updated and broadly disseminated. The project served as a “proof of concept” to investigate whether the use of wireless broadband and the integration of web-enabled educational content can truly change the quality of education in India’s government-run schools.

1 “Education in India.” World Bank.

PARTNERS

• Azim Premji Foundation

The Lampung province on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia has rural areas with minimal telecommunications infrastructure. Here, isolated villages, some reachable only after a drive of no less than six hours over bumpy dirt roads, now have secondary schools where students can surf the Internet.

Wireless Reach, the local 3G operator Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia (STI), IndoNet, Axesstel Inc., the Indonesian Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and the State Ministry for the Accelerated Development of Disadvantaged Regions, reached out to the remote township of Way Kanan in Lampung to increase teledensity and Internet penetration with EV-DO high-speed data access. STI uses the 450 MHz frequency band, ideal for providing extended coverage and advanced voice and high-speed data services in rural and underserved areas.

The cornerstone of the program was the establishment of computer laboratories, which provide Internet access to more than 1,000 students in five high schools in Way Kanan: Buay Bahuga, Negeri Besar, Negara Batin, Rebang Tangkas and Pakuan Ratu.

Similarly, a community access point (CAP) has been established in Pacitan, East Java, to serve as an Internet data center for local townspeople. This CAP in Pacitan consists of a computer laboratory equipped with an EV-DO modem operating at 450 MHz (CDMA450) to provide high-speed Internet access to the public. More than 2,000 students and teachers in the Pondok Tremas district are now able to access information worldwide via the Internet for use in education, research and training.

PARTNERS

• Axesstel Inc.
• IndoNet
• Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia
• Ministry of Information and Communication Technology
• State Ministry for the Accelerated Development of Disadvantaged Regions

Wireless Reach collaborated with Room to Read and Nepal Telecom to boost the quality of education using wireless Internet access, which is the most efficient way to link people living in a diverse terrain that have no landline connectivity. Using Nepal Telecom’s EV-DO network, the partners established five computer labs in rural areas throughout Pokhara, a valley surrounded by the Annapurna mountain range.

In order to participate in the project, each school involved helped with renovations needed to support a computer lab. This collaborative effort and commitment from the participating schools is improving the quality of education for students. Now they are able to enhance their studies through the use of the Internet, while connecting easily to the world around them.

PARTNERS

• Room to Read
• Nepal Telecom

The San Diego Museum of Art, School in the Park, Price Charities, Dr. Patrick O’Shea and Wireless Reach have worked together to develop a unique Augmented Reality Experience (ARE) using 3G connected smartphones to help young students learn the history of Asian art. The ARE blends the real world with the digital world with special software.

Using GPS, information tags have been superimposed on physical surroundings when students look through the camera of their smartphone. In addition, codes that students scan with their phone have been placed within the Asian art exhibit. Once students click on either the tags or codes they are taken to videos and information on the Internet that gives them clues on how to solve the mystery of a Chinese folktale about dancing cranes. Using videos shot with local high school volunteer actors that are hosted on YouTube, and web-based activities uploaded on the School in the Park’s website, students are provided with challenges and questions that they answer by interacting with the smartphone, prior to moving to the next stage. Gradually they get closer to a surprise ending once they successfully complete the ARE.

This interactive, project-based, educational experience is blended with engaging classroom art activities, giving low-income students from two San Diego schools an opportunity to build 21st century skills using the latest technology. Access to multiple uses of smart technology tools that link with robust, authentic instruction and standards-aligned curriculum provides students with rich academic content that uses the San Diego Museum of Art as a cultural institution and educational resource in their community.

PARTNERS

• Dr. Patrick O’Shea
• Price Charities
• San Diego Museum of Art
• School in the Park

Wireless Reach collaborated with Google, One Economy and Cricket Communications in order to study the benefits of wireless broadband access and adoption in low-income areas of Washington, D.C. and San Diego. The project is modeled after a successful pilot in Portland, Oregon. Qualifying families are identified by a local community organization and receive free broadband connectivity. Each family receives a data card – providing them with two years of free access on Cricket Wireless’ broadband network. Additionally, to qualify, each family must have at least one student within grades six through 12 attending a public school.

Participating families are learning how to use the wireless broadband access to find employment, health care information, personal finance advice and education resources. With the network of partners, the project aims to develop a plan that successfully integrates the technology in a way that produces meaningful change for the families involved. At the end of the two year project, a final study will be released assessing the impact of having consistent wireless broadband access in homes and what it means for bridging the digital divide.

PARTNERS

• Google
• One Economy
• Cricket Communications

Working with Partners for Digital Equality’s (PDE) Learning Without Walls (LearningWOW) program, Wireless Reach has funded a pilot to explore if 24/7 access to learning materials and communities can help middle school students increase their academic success and digital access in an underserved school district in Atlanta. PDE, AT&T, Tutor.com, the One-to-One Institute, SMART Technologies, Saywire and Wireless Reach are providing a robust technology program to participating students and teachers.

Approximately 40 students received Hewlett-Packard notebooks loaded with education technology tools and embedded with Qualcomm’s Gobi™ technology for mobile Internet access over AT&T’s 3G network. These wirelessly connected computers provide students with access to tutoring, education materials and their learning communities, both within classrooms and everywhere they go after school. As part of this pilot project, resources for technical support, teacher training, project management, equipment and access to AT&T’s wireless network have been donated by the project partners. Online tutoring sessions, career guidance, homework assistance, GED prep, and resume writing are just some of the free services being offered to the students and parents through LearningWOW.

PARTNERS

• AT&T
• One-to-One Institute
• Partners for Digital Equality
• Saywire
• SMART Technologies
• Tutor.com

Working with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Digital Millennial Consulting, Project K-Nect is a Wireless Reach funded pilot program that began during the 2007-2008 school year to discover if 24/7 connected smartphones could play a role in enhancing student engagement and learning. The project addresses the need to improve math skills among at-risk students in North Carolina who scored poorly in math and did not have access to the Internet at home. Algebra I digital content aligned with the teacher’s lesson plan was created and students were encouraged to learn from each other in and out of the classroom using collaborative learning applications, as well as other Internet resources such as algebra.com. In 2009, Project K-Nect was incorporated into algebra II, geometry and biology classes. The project also added two more school districts, including an eighth and tenth grade class totaling 150 students.

For two consecutive years, the project has shown success in students’ achievement. In classes participating in Project K-Nect, student proficiency rates on the state end of course exam increased 30 percent when compared to classes not participating in the project. And these numbers have not gone unnoticed. Based on positive results from Project K-Nect, the United States Department of Defense Education Activity granted a participating school district US $2.5 million to expand Project K-Nect to all algebra I students.

PARTNERS

• Digital Millennial Consulting
• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• View Project K-Nect Video

In support of Vietnam’s government goals of boosting 21st century skills within its labor force, Wireless Reach is focusing on Vietnam’s future group of skilled workers. Collaborating with Room to Read, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and enabling global education, and S-Fone, a local 3G operator, Wireless Reach is supporting a project that has established computer labs in six secondary schools in the Can Tho province of southern Vietnam. Through the project, the Room to Read computer labs were each equipped with 20-25 computers and EV-DO connectivity using wireless modems. S-Fone is providing the schools with free Internet access until 2012. Along with training sessions for teachers, students are now able to attend classes where they learn how to use various computer applications and basic skills using the Internet. With most of the student population at the participating schools coming from low-income families, and one school in a region where there is no landline connectivity, the computer labs and access to the Internet have been a welcome change.

PARTNERS

• Room to Read
• S-Fone