SMART Technologies

St. Alban’s College Pretoria, South Africa Africa’s First Virtual Classroom Brings Education to Underprivileged Learners

 Read the full case study (PDF 102KB)

Overview

St Alban's College is a private Anglican School for boys from grade 8-12. The college is well-known for producing top students in the fields of science and computer science. St. Alban's is also known for helping communities access education through innovative outreach programs.

Challenge

Teachers at St. Alban's wanted to help nearby schools overcome the problems caused by a shortage of qualified teachers and resources through distance collaboration tools. The school wanted to help students avoid spending up to two hours a day commuting from underprivileged schools to more privileged institutions for extra classes.

SMART Solution

SMART Board interactive whiteboards, a private broadband wireless network and other distance education technology.

Result

Students at an underprivileged school will no longer need to travel to St. Alban's for science, biology, English and math classes. Students can see, listen to and interact with qualified teachers from St. Alban's without leaving their own school. As a result of their success, teachers at St. Alban's hope to use distance education to prevent other students in the area from sacrificing time traveling to other schools for classes.

Visit the Ulwazi Project: www.ulwaziproject.co.za