Multimedia Mail for the Digital Study Hall

Basic education has been listed as a priority of development efforts in poor regions around the world [1]. Distance learning has significant potential for enhancing basic education, and the benefits of information and computer technology can provide an efficient means for deploying a distance learning system. Such a system, dubbed the “Digital StudyHall,” is proposed by Wang, et. al. for deployment to Dr. Urvashi Sahni’s private schools in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India [2]. This system is scheduled for deployment in the summer of 2005, and will initially include a computer at the private school in each village, which will be connected regularly through a delay tolerant network to a server at the principle school in Lucknow. The deployment of this system provides an opportunity to try out a number of ideas to enhance the life of people in rural villages, particularly vis-à-vis their educational experience.