Making education accessible through technology

CARLOS OPPUS has taught at the Ateneo for more than three decades as a faculty member of the Department of Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering (ECCE) since 1989. He finds teaching and research as truly rewarding, especially when he sees his students succeed in their chosen fields.

Oppus, who is trained in physics and computer engineering, is also among the co-founders of the Ateneo Innovation Center (AIC), which aims to bring innovative research done in laboratories to reality, contributing to community and society.

His own practice in the field of electronics and computer engineering extends his positive contribution to education to communities well beyond the Ateneo campus. 

Oppus and his AIC colleagues adapted the “near cloud” technology that archives digital files into a server for schools in remote communities to access even without an internet connection. The system, dubbed as EduCloud, became even more relevant during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic when remote learning was implemented. 

“During the pandemic, we saw that many students had no means to connect to or pay for internet connectivity. So we thought–and this was when I joined the team–why not make a server that we could deploy in schools so teachers and students can download modules and other educational resources on any device with wifi even if they’re offline,” Oppus recalls.

Through this system, learners and teachers can also access educational videos, software, and even Wikipedia offline. Students can likewise upload their assignments to the server, and teachers can download these submissions as well. The team partnered with Ateneo's Department of Mathematics to include their Mathplus apps in the EduCloud server. Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the apps are designed to help students learn mathematical concepts and skills in blended and online learning settings. 

Costing only Php 10,000 (roughly USD 180), EduCloud can hold one terabyte of data. While they donated the first few units to the community that they first served, AIC also capacitates its partner-communities to build and maintain their own low-cost EduCloud systems.

Oppus says the project would not be possible if not for the resources and funding provided by the Ateneo’s University Research Council, as well as additional support from the School of Science and Engineering and his home department. 

“As ECCE, this is our contribution to bridging a gap. It makes education accessible even to those without access,” Oppus says.

To know more about EduCloud and near-tech cloud technology, visit resiliencetoolkit.ph/near-cloud-tech.