What’s of interest? SolarSPELL – Solar Powered Educational Learning Library
Tell me more!
The SolarSPELL (Solar Powered Educational Learning Library) initiative at ASU combines curated digital libraries, solar-powered, offline technology, and the training to build information literacy and internet-ready skills in offline environments, focusing on the half of the world that remains unconnected.
SolarSPELL’s solar-powered, offline technology is rugged and ultra-portable so that it can go anywhere and reach anyone, even the most remote. The SolarSPELL digital library mimics an online experience by generating its own offline WiFi hotspot to which any WiFi-capable device (smartphone, tablet, laptop) can connect and freely, and safely, surf the library’s thousands of open access resources that are carefully curated and continually improved to meet local information needs.
SolarSPELL’s digital library collections currently span primary and secondary education, health, agriculture, and the environment. Using a train-the-trainer model and working with in-field partners like Peace Corps and UNHCR, the SolarSPELL libraries are paired with locally based trainers for long-term support.
This is one among many items I will regularly tag in Pinboard as oegconnect, and automatically post tagged as #OEGConnect to Mastodon. Do you know of something else we should share like this? Just reply below and we will check it out.
This came to mind from previous discussions here about the wide range of solutions used for providing internet like experiences in places lacking network access, e.g. running services from a local device, all topics here tagged offline
What is intriguing about SolarSPELL is being completely self contained, it is solar powered.
Today there are 487 SolarSPELL digital libraries in Ethiopia, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Rwanda, Malawi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Comoros.
“Yes, you heard right! The SolarSPELL initiative does an excellent job providing offline digital content using Raspberry Pi as the primary hardware. However, their services are limited to certain regions, and their pricing can be relatively high. That’s why I developed a similar device, using the same hardware and content as SolarSPELL, but with a more accessible approach. Our offline digital library offers the same content on a USB drive as well, compatible with Windows laptops and computers. We’re also working to make it plug-and-play for Android devices—though this feature may take some additional time. If anyone is interested in a similar device, I’d be happy to provide it!”