ARK Multicasting has announced a collaboration with SpectraRep to deploy SpectraRep’s Educast service on the ARK Broadcast Internet Network of NextGen TV stations. The partnership is expected to spur further development of the use of ATSC 3.0 datacasting to provide distance learning services for K-12 and college students in rural communities who lack sufficient broadband access, the companies said.
“We can help solve and even eliminate a major pain point for millions of K-12, college students, and teachers in rural America,” according to Josh Weiss, Co-Founder & CEO, Ark Multicasting. “This new hybrid broadcast-broadband technology is a complete gamechanger allowing a one-to-many reach which serves as an accretive augmentation to traditional Internet providers struggling with network congestion and last-mile connectivity.”
Carrying the EduCast educational datacasting solution to deliver classroom content on its ATSC 3.0 spectrum will allow ARK to reach millions of students on its network of LPTV stations across 39 states, according to the companies.
“The Covid-19 pandemic sent students and teachers home negatively impacting remote learners without access to adequate broadband,” said Mark O’Brien, President and CTO of SpectraRep. “We realized that we could use our technology with the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast Internet to solve problems in education such as homework gaps and equity much the same way we've supported public safety and law enforcement customers.”
With ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV on the ARK network along with SpectraRep’s EduCast, teachers can securely provide their assignments to students so they can study on their own time. It works seamlessly with whatever learning management system the teachers already use whether it is Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, and others.
