Germantown-based Hughes Network Systems is making a business of using satellite technology to help countries overseas with their education needs.
The company just finished a project with the Amazonas Board of Education in Brazil, in which middle schools in the country will use satellite technology for what is known as “distance learning.”
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Students who live too far away to get to school, or attend overcrowded schools, will be able to use Hughes terminals in order to receive their classroom instruction remotely.
Distance Learning projects and education efforts in general have become a major business segment for Hughes over roughly the past three years, according to Dave Rehbehn, senior director of marketing for Hughes. The company also frequently works with universities; it’s helping to implement a graduate degree program in some of India’s major universities, and has done projects in China, Russia and Ethiopia is well.
“The idea is you can be in a second-tier city and still get a first-quality education,” Rehbehn said.
Satellite technology is particularly suited to the projects because programming can be broadcast cost-effectively from one location and distributed to any number of points, he explained. In some instance, a two-way system is put in place so that teachers can ask questions to students and vice versa, he added.
Some countries have been aware of satellite technology’s potential for education for years. The Indian Space Research Organization, for example, launched a satellite called Edusat in 2004 exclusively dedicated to broadcasting educational content.
