Google Invests In Access-Activating Technology In Schools

Education is key, and at the core of a quality education is a robust learning platform, be it offline or online. Google believes in that and that’s why they
came up with the Education Go Digital program. Through the Education Go Digital Platform, Google partners with institutions, universities and all other forms of school to provide an online robust learning platform through the Infrastructure Collaboration Agreement (ICA), a one time co-investment geared at rolling out new infrastructure or improving existing one. There have been various ICAs already in Africa, with schools in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa already using the Google Apps for education. Recently, The University of Nairobi’s Parklands School of Law received infrastructure co-investment from Google to roll out wireless connectivity at their campus, covering student hostels, lecture halls, library, recreation areas and staff residence. This project was completed in mid-2014 and will benefit more than 10,000 students and staff. Dr.Ibrahim Otieno, the ICT Director at University of Nairobi, had this to say about the project: “..this project has marvelously altered the learning experience of the students at the School of Law, and is now a showcase for similar ICT & infrastructure projects that will be done in the future” This is a sort of call to notice for schools out there, if your institution has seen increasingly higher demands for internet access, this is a good time to invest in more access. Learning institutions can contact the Education Go Digital team at egd- ssa@google.com to get more information. Any interested learning institution can apply. All they need to do is to outline how they will deliver better internet access to all constituents on campus. The Education Go Digital program is presently available to universities and schools in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Photo Credit: josef.stuefer via Compfight cc