HP Education Solutions Increase Access to Quality Learning Around the World
Originally published on Responsible Business
Around the world, hundreds of millions of people lack access to quality learning opportunities, including 264 million children living in communities where basic educational resources are unavailable. To address this inequity, HP is working with other companies, nonprofit organizations, and governments to create technology solutions that can connect individuals to educational opportunities wherever they live.
In India, HP is helping bridge the digital divide by providing citizens in remote villages with access to quality education, entrepreneurship training, and common public services through mobile HP World on Wheels (WoW) digital inclusion and learning labs. Each 20-seat, IT-enabled lab is equipped with HP technology, as well as software suites and e-learning tools. (See the video above for an inside look at the lab capabilities.)
Five days a week, citizens have access to courses that include digital literacy and IT education for students from third grade to college age, and an entrepreneurship development program that helps high school students and young adults build the skills they need to start and grow a business.
On Saturdays HP WoW turns into a mobile Common Services Center, where people can access social services such as applying for an Aadhaar identification card, paying bills online, applying for licenses, and participating in e-commerce. The lab can also be used for audio and video conferencing services, such as maternal and child health sessions for expectant and new moms, agricultural training for farmers, career counseling for students and youth, and remote volunteering opportunities like mentoring and skill sharing.
Launched in January 2017, HP WoW will serve an estimated 6,375 Indian Villages, impacting about 15 million people, over the next six years.
Addressing the needs of remote communities
The HP School Cloud is another example of a solution that will provide students, teachers, and adult-learners in rural and poor communities around the world with access to educational materials and applications. The HP School Cloud is a hybrid cloud appliance, meaning it acts as a wireless router, while also storing files and other content on its server, including a range of free, open source educational material.
With this solution, schools without Internet access can simply install an HP School Cloud, turn it on, and let students dive into millions of e-textbooks and thousands of lessons about everything—from reading to science to mathematics.
HP aims to reach 1 million learners with the HP School Cloud by 2020 and is partnering with Intel and Education Cannot Wait to seed more than 1,700 HP School Clouds in schools all over the developing world.
Preparing the business owners of tomorrow
The HP Foundation’s Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE) program is yet another initiative that is helping people build better, more prosperous lives. A global e-learning program, HP LIFE provides users with access to 28 free business and IT skills training courses. The courses, which are available in English, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, are modular, interactive, and full of information and practical exercises that enable users to learn at their own pace.
HP LIFE is accessed directly by independent learners but is also used by educators, trainers, and mentors to enrich their curriculum and personalize their interactions with learners. For example, HP has partnered with USAID, UNIDO, and the Italian Development Cooperation to develop the Mashrou3i skills and job creation project, which is helping create hundreds of new startup businesses and thousands of jobs in Tunisia.
To date, nearly 700,000 people in 200 countries and territories have used HP LIFE. And HP has a goal of empowering another 1 million aspiring entrepreneurs by enrolling them in HP LIFE between 2015 and 2025.
HP has made a commitment to provide more than $20 million in technology, training, research and development, and funding contributions to enable better learning outcomes for more than 100 million people by 2025. HP WoW, HP School Cloud, and HP LIFE represent just some of the educational solutions HP is implementing to help improve the lives and livelihoods of people around the world.
