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Bednet
Bednet links 6 to 18 year old children in Flanders who are suffering from long term and chronic diseases to their own classroom through the Internet. This way, they can follow as many courses as possible during their absence and stay in touch with their teachers and class mates. Bednet is carrying out pioneers’ work in this field and is working on a structural solution for all children with long term diseases.
Since the Bednet system is focusing on simple and user friendly technology and the physical limitations of ill children and those in rehabilitation, it can easily be adapted to all languages and to different target groups (such as patients in home care, seniors).
The Bednet system
Bednet has successfully created a child friendly environment where a long term ill child can resume his/her lessons in the classroom from home or from the hospital. For the past few years, Bednet has been working for this goal, together with other partners in the framework of the ASCIT project of the IBBT (Interdisciplinair Instituut voor Breedbandtechnologie). Bednet will continue to further extend and renew this system.
The child is linked to his class via the Internet. A Bednet set consists of 2 laptops (one with the child, one in the classroom), two webcams, two scanner-printers and a photo camera focusing on the blackboard. Whenever the teacher places a document onto the scanner in the classroom, the same document will be printed at the child’s home after a short time, and vice versa. The sounds and images from the webcam allow the child to follow the school’s lessons in real time. If he has a question or an answer to an asked question he can let the class know by giving them a sound or light signal. This way the ill child is able to follow the lessons as they are happening. After school the system can be used to give out homework and tasks or to hand them in. The child can sit tests and exams under supervision of the teacher at the same time as or at a different time than the other children. All these possibilities enormously increase his chances to succeed. But also the psychological impact is important because the child is visible again in the classroom and takes part in the social life of the class.
More to follow!