Invention:
Education disparities are a hallmark of conversation between politicians, school board members, teachers, and parents across the nation. 2020 has brought on a new perspective, students involved in mandatory online education without being able to consistently be online creates an obvious new disparity. This technology seeks to solve the problem and resolve the disparity between those who have technology and internet access and those who do not.
This project seeks to solve three major problems: (1) Provide students who have no computer access; (2) Provide students who have computers but no internet access, or unreliable access; and (3) Provide a group of students a solution that allows the group to receive online instruction without connection to the internet. The idea essentially is to provide the students with an online learning experience by taking off-the-shelf items and repurposing TVs with HDMI capabilities and external drives that give students the content, books, and courses they need to be successful.
Background:
The reactionary public policy stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic has left families, students, teachers, and administrators to wonder how they can deliver an education to everyone within their territorial limits. While there are quibbles about the efficacy of online education in general and the different methods to use, this problem is more fundamental. What do we do with the vast number of people who do not have access to either technology or consistent internet access? Those individuals are currently being left behind and fault may be attributed to parents or guardians, but the young students are those who are not receiving an education.
It is incumbent on the school systems with their federal mandate to educate the public. Therefore, the logic flows, that if the government is to take away the opportunity to learn in person, they must give students another way to access the education from which they are now shut out. So far, schools and local governments have acted negligently in assuming widespread access to technology and the internet. This technology gives students who otherwise have no chance, to receive the education they should be receiving.
Applications:
- Online school K-12
- Collegiate education
Advantages:
- All-encompassing use
- Inexpensive
- Versatile
