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Railroad fibre to bring connectivity to schools

Michelle Avenant
By Michelle Avenant, portals journalist.
Johannesburg, 30 Apr 2015
Railroad fibre-optics infrastructure will be used to provide schools across the country with connectivity.
Railroad fibre-optics infrastructure will be used to provide schools across the country with connectivity.

Kolok SA, in partnership with Intel SA and InterSite, a subsidiary of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, has begun implementing the Kolok Education Solution (K-ED), which utilises existing railroad fibre-optics infrastructure to provide connectivity to schools across SA.

"The railroad fibre-optics infrastructure was laid but not lit," explains Dineo Letsholo, computing brands sales and marketing manager at Kolok. "Each station now has a peering point that provides data to schools via air fibre or microwave. Connectivity is then provided in the schools via WiFi," she explains.

K-ED's proof of concept phase began on 23 April at the Durban School for the Hearing Impaired in Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal.

Letsholo notes digital education adoption in SA has been hampered by connectivity issues and data costs, which K-ED hopes to resolve.

K-ED also aims to mitigate the complexity of implementing digital learning by providing "a holistic solution addressing hardware, software, connectivity, content, professional development [of teachers], support and warranty," Letsholo adds.

Supported by a number of participants, the project provides classroom management software and devices such as notebooks from Intel; device software from Sapient, Edit Microsystems and Windows; educational content from Learnthings Africa; and classroom hardware and software from Smart Technologies, Letsholo elaborates.

K-ED will also roll out pedagogical and hardware usage training to teachers, using a combination of online and on-site methods, she adds.

"We strongly believe in an education transformation model that includes all aspects from professional development, content, devices and connectivity, enabled by an ecosystem that brings it to market," says Videsha Proothveerajh, country general manager for Southern Africa at Intel.

An important goal of K-ED is to ensure adoption success and daily usage, concludes Allan Thompson, MD of Kolok.

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