An Arizona State University professor is delivering a digital library to rural areas of the Pacific Islands.
About 2,000 students now have access to the SolarSPELL device, giving them educational resources to geography, agriculture, science, engineering and climate change topics. The digital library also gives them access to math and English lessons.
This instrument has become an important factor for schools in areas where there is no electricity or internet connection.
The SolarSPELL is a solar-powered machine that feeds off its own Wi-Fi. The power from the sun is received from the panels, which are generated into a cell phone battery. That battery is connected to a credit card-sized computer chip, called the Raspberry Pi, which is the server that carries the library’s content.
The gadget creates a Wi-Fi hotspot that can connect to any device that is capable of receiving an internet connection. The library with all the content is then displayed as a website on tablets, smartphones and laptops.
Laura Hosman worked on the project for four years with students from California Polytechnic State University, the Illinois Institute of Technology and now Arizona State University.
“My great hope is that the students at these schools and the teachers at these schools are having access to more information than they have ever had before. So when you are at a school that doesn’t have textbooks, doesn’t have connection to the internet and has never had a library, it can be a difficult way to get quality education,” Hosman said.
Hosman partnered with Peace Corps to use the devices in Vanuatu, Samoa and the Micronesian Islands. They are currently working on improving and expanding this to provide help to other countries as well.