T-Learning (digital TV) in Brazil: the BEACON project

From the EuroPace Newsletter

BEACON is creating a Brazilian‐European consortium for organisations interested in t‐Learning.

BEACON (Brazilian‐European Consortium for DTT Services) is a specific targeted research project on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) carried out with the support of the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme Priority IST.

Between 2007 and 2010 BEACON will develop innovative t‐learning pilot services related to social inclusion in the State of Sao Paulo (Brazil) on the basis of pioneering research on interoperability between the European
(DVB) and the Brazilian (SBTVD) Digital Terrestrial Television standards and the definition of a pedagogically sound methodology for distance learning through digital television. Ultimately the project will result in the establishment of a Brazilian‐European Consortium that will manage the exploitation of the assets and the services implemented by the project.

More information can be obtained at: http://www.beacon-dtt.com/documents/BEACON%20Project%20Summary%20IST.pdf

Organisations interested in collaborating on these issues are invited to join the consortium.

Comment

This project appears to be a technology looking for an application. Brazil has a long history of using television for distance education. I wonder what they will learn about using television for distance education from this project that was not already discovered in the 1980s (except that the picture is sharper). For instance, see:

Bates, A. W. (1984) Broadcasting in Education: An Evaluation London: Constables

Or maybe it’s another wheel waiting to be invented? Or is someone trying to sell new technology to someone else? Just asking.