Education is the path to living a joyful, prosperous, healthy, and peaceful life. It also played a leading role in the life of my grandfather, Meredith G. Williams Sr. He was an educator and high school principal. Today, there’s a middle school named after him in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
When I learned about Australia’s “School of the Air,” an unconventional classroom that brings education to children living on cattle and sheep stations and government posts in the remote outback, I was impressed by the efforts teachers and students took in order to study reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic in ”the middle of nowhere.”
With the use of voice only two-way radios, the teacher gave the lessons and the students provided feedback whenenever the connection was strong enough to transmit. Once a year, there are reunions and gatherings of all those who participate throughout Australia, in centralized locations, so they can meet one another face-to-face. Some say, these children receive a better education than those who sit in regular classrooms, because their desire and appreciation for what they have is stronger.
In 2009, Australia announced that it will invest over $40 billion, that’s B for billions of dollars, to provide Internet service to 90% of its population. The remote stations will have satellite and wireless service, and this will result in better connections to School of the Air. Visuals and interactive classroom discussions will surely be added, and parents may begin hearing the early morning question, ”What should I wear to school today?”!
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Very interesting. Keep the blogs coming. I learn something new everytime.