Case Study: St. Alban's College achieves virtual classroom access for underprivileged learners with SMART Technologies

Africa's first virtual classroom brings education to underprivileged learners

St. Alban’s College launched the Ulwazi E‑Learning project — billed as Africa’s first virtual classroom — to address severe teacher and resource shortages in disadvantaged Pretoria communities where learners were spending up to two hours daily commuting to better‑equipped schools for core classes. The challenge was to deliver quality, interactive instruction to underprivileged students without requiring those long commutes.

Using SMART Board interactive whiteboards, a Motorola Canopy private broadband wireless network, a webcam, projector and NetMeeting conferencing software, teachers deliver real‑time, two‑way lessons that let remote students see, hear and actively participate (including science demonstrations and board work). As a result, students now receive core subject instruction at their own schools without traveling, the program has expanded to additional schools via donor support, and there are plans to scale the model regionally and nationally.

St. Alban's College