Bridging the education gap - Republic of Palau using Sony videoconferencing systems for distance learning - Company Business and Marketing

Communications News, Oct, 1999

The Republic of Palau in the South Pacific is using four Sony Trinicom 5100 videoconferencing systems to bring education resources to students, linking four strategically selected schools on three of its principal islands, Babledaob, Koror, and Peleliu, equipping each with a 27-inch television, a videotape recorder, and a document object camera to enhance presentations. The systems, provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), will help OIA train teachers to use the equipment for distance-learning purposes for core-curricula classes and electronic field trips around the republic. Career field exploration, government meetings between villages, and school administration meetings will be broadcast as well. Bob Pauline, an independent distance-learning projects producer based in western Pennsylvania, points out: "As travel among the islands is usually by boat--and since the roads are fairly unreliable--videoconferencing has proven extremely helpful in bolstering the curriculum and increasing the number of educational resources available."

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