Using TV White Spaces and e-Learning in South African rural schools

This paper uses the example of the television white space (TVWS) project in Limpopo Province of South Africa to consider benefits of TVWS technology to enable e-Learning environment and introduce pupils and teachers previously unfamiliar with Internet to information and communication technologies (ICT) including Internet. The Limpopo TVWS project uses TVWS to provide broadband Internet to five schools which are up to 10 km away around the University of Limpopo (UL) in the rural Mankweng Township. Each one of the participating five schools was donated 31 tablets, an overhead projector and smart phone to enable e-learning delivery. The paper presents preliminary results on a socio-economic study conducted at the five participating schools, and also discusses various benefits of availability of connectivity and of e-Learning.