Laura Hosman

The Pacific Islands are globally regarded as a barometer and first line of impact for climate change. In addition to their geographic predisposition to extreme weather events, the remote and isolated nature of these islands creates infrastructural challenges—such as lack of internet connectivity—which contribute to educational challenges. Education is critical for these communities to respond and adapt to climate change, yet, the lack of reliable access to Internet and electricity, coupled with the cost-prohibitive state of these services, must be overcome to deliver relevant, useful educational content. This presentation will discuss how SolarSPELL (Solar Powered Educational Learning Library), a self-sustaining, offline digital library, can help address this challenge. Since its launch in 2015, over 200 SolarSPELL units have been installed in schools across five Pacific Island nations.

Laura Hosman is an associate professor at Arizona State University, holding a joint appointment in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and in The Polytechnic School. Her work is action-oriented and focuses on the role for information and communications technology (ICT) in developing countries. Presently, she focuses on ICT-in-education projects, and brings her passion for experiential learning to the classroom by leading real-world-focused, project-based courses that have seen student-built technology deployed in schools in the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, and East Africa. Her current initiative, SolarSPELL, is an offline, solar-powered digital library designed and localized for its user-communities. To date, there are over 270 SolarSPELL libraries across 8 countries in the Pacific and East Africa. More about the SolarSPELL initiative can be found here: http://solarspell.org.