Better content management and multicasting via satellite improving education


The use of ICT in schools all over Europe is on the increase. From an initial focus on IT as a subject and basic management support in the early 1990s, there are now few schools anywhere that do not have an explicit and comprehensive IT policy. Although the various Ministries of Education have set up networks that offer recommendations on content, as well as advice and support to educators, challenges still remain in the take-up of ICT in schools.

The ESA supported project SchoolCast aims to resolve at least some of these issues by having developed a system that improves the way in which schools access information from the Internet. The key is in improving the management of content, multicasting specific multimedia rich content to groups and sub-groups of schools and then providing feedback to stakeholders about precisely how schools are using this content.

Improved content management
SchoolCast allows the agencies responsible for schools, such as school boards or similar government institutions, to select the most relevant content from the Internet, organise it to suit their own needs and insure that legal questions on the use of the material are resolved. The Content Publishers providing this material need only insure that it is prepared for multicast.

The content can then be transmitted via satellite by Network Managers at night, when it is less expensive. Schools equipped with satellite receiving antennas receive the content and store it for use in the classroom the following day.

Multicasting saves on satellite capacity
The SchoolCast content is multicast to schools via a satellite network, which enables more efficient delivery of data to multiple locations on a network. This is in contrast to terrestrial multicast, in which a separate data packet is made within the network for each recipient with potential high costs for large amounts of data or large numbers of users. Particularly with video-streaming, multicasting via satellite can translate into a significant saving of resources.

Not only does SchoolCast take advantage of a satellite network but ATiT has designed the system to 'push' the most frequently used websites out to the users, where they are cached locally. This makes the delivery of content even more efficient and enables each school to have immediate access to the data. An approach like this means a large savings on the amount of satellite capacity being used.

Results from users have also shown that increasing the use of SchoolCast has the added effect of improving the general Internet skills of both educators and students alike.

Consortium and users
The project has been made possible through a consortium of 4 commercial companies and 2 public institutions. ATiT Ireland is the Prime Contractor of the ESA supported project; Global Communication and Services GmbH from Austria is responsible for the multicasting software; Web-Sat ltd. from Ireland is providing the two-way Internet via satellite network; Intel(r) IT Innovation from Ireland lend support in the non-satellite take-up of the service; The National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) is the main stakeholder and both evaluates the service and provides content; HEAnet are a key test user of the network.

Four users are anticipated for SchoolCast. System Managers, who are normally from a government agency such as NCTE in Ireland, Content Publishers, Network Managers and of course the schools themselves who can check for recent multicasts and request certain content.

Field Trials
SchoolCast has been field tested and validated in educational environment. 'Speed and reliability' were the impressions of teachers taking part in the trials. Teachers can benefit from materials and sites that have been sourced by their peers with content that fits perfectly into their local teaching needs.

The service has proven itself to be both User-friendly and transparent. The service will import any content which can be packaged for multicast. The market potential for SchoolCast has been assessed and numerous opportunities, through out Europe exist for SchoolCast. SchoolCast is ideal for satellite transmission and especially important in countries such as Ireland where mixed infrastructures exist.

Mr Roberto Donadio ESA Technical Officer for the SchoolCast project stated, "This project demonstrated how satellite when combined with a good management platform facilitates the take-up of content at schools."

"Government should make themselves more aware of the capabilities offered by SchoolCast. Placing highly relevant multimedia-rich material directly on a local server could be a boon for ICT education." explained Ms Sally Reynolds of ATiT, "Benefits exist at all levels. Internet Service providers will see a benefit in SchoolCast in its ability to increase network efficiency and therefore cut down on bandwidth usage."

To read more about SchoolCast just click under related links at the top-right of this page.

All images SchoolCast Project Team

Published 21 February 2006
Last updated at 06 August 2014 - 10:38