The Trapeze project, supported by ESA under ARTES-3, has just completed a successful 5-week trial that linked pupils and their teachers in the Netherlands, Belgium and the U.K. using a unique broadband satellite supported network.
The aim of the Trapeze project is to use inexpensive and easily deployable two-way satellite technology to link travelling children with each other and with their teachers. All the children taking part in Trapeze are from fairground families who normally travel for 8 or 9 months each year from fairground to fairground. As a result the education of these children can be severely disrupted as they depend on occasional visiting teachers and work-packs to do their schoolwork between teacher's visits.
During the trial, whenever the travelling family arrived at a new fairground, one of the first jobs they did was to set up the Trapeze satellite dish and plug in the computer. The child taking part, often accompanied by his/her brothers and sisters, then checked to find their latest schoolwork and messages from the teacher and other pupils. They then took part in a "virtual class", a learning environment that allowed synchronous communication with their teacher and other pupils while doing the work their teacher had set them.
Children learning in 'virtual' environments
The system performed extremely well during the trial period allowing children to interact daily with others in the network. It also allowed teachers to correct children's work and set new individualised work programmes for each pupil as well as allowing children and their parents to surf the Internet for interesting and fun sites.
Parents and teachers alike saw the Trapeze learning environment as being a major step forward in allowing their children work at their own pace in a disciplined way. The combination of computer-based materials and tutor 'presence', albeit virtual, was seen as a significant motivational improvement that provided immediate feedback and clarification. As one of the parents said at the end of the project, "Sacha had done much more in the Trapeze learning environment as she tends to 'drift' with the (usual) workpack rather than being engaged".
Teachers and learners report that they covered far more work than they would normally when depending on visiting teachers and work-packs. The quality of this work was also agreed to be significantly higher and the use of this system was viewed as a "big improvement in terms of encouraging effective learning activity". The families were very excited by the possibility of "having a school at home", holding out the prospect for the first time of an effective educational provision for their children. Obviously the trial also ensured a significant improvement in the children's computer skills, with many of the children learning for the first time how to use a computer for learning purposes.
Using advanced technology
This is the first time such a system based on state-of-the-art VSAT technology working in Ku-band has been used in such a way. This innovative technology allows for 2-way high-bandwidth interaction using small end-user equipment (98cm receiving-transmitting dish). The multimedia information downloaded from the hub station in multicasting mode can reach 3Mbit/s with a return channel operating at 76.8 Kbit/s from the learner station.
The network can be used in a number of different ways, for multicasting large amounts of data to remote stations, for interactive receipt and transmission of audio/visual files, for messaging, for synchronous 'chatting' and for surfing the Internet.
Planning a future service
Work on consolidation and exploitation of the results of the project are advancing apace. Practical steps are being taken to launch a service in January 2001 aimed not only at travelling children but also those responsible for networking remote and poorly connected schools in Europe.
The system has also terrific potential as a way in which communities can be connected in less developed countries outside Europe. At a political level, the need to provide suitable and effective IT support to all the citizens of Europe is of particular interest. The Lisbon Action Plan, for example, makes reference not only to supporting isolated schools, but also to the dangers of 'info-exclusion', systems like those deployed within Trapeze can provide a significant tool in overcoming such exclusion as they allow for anywhere, anytime large bandwidth connectivity. Connecting an isolated school or community takes only the amount of time it takes to set up a satellite dish; expensive land-based solutions are no longer necessary.
Background to the project
The Trapeze project is supported under User Segment, the European Space Agency's Multimedia Initiative as part of their commitment to the use of advanced European satellite developments in education.
Partners in the project are:
EFECOT-(European Federation for the Education of Children of Occupational Travellers) @iT- The Belgium-based audio-visual technology, informatics and telecommunications company specialising in the field of telematics supported learning
Telespazio - The Italian satellite service provider owned by Telecom Italia
The Stichting Rijdende School in the Netherlands
The West Midlands Consortium Education Service for Travelling Children in the UK
The Audio-visual department of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium
