Far from just a name, RACHEL stands for Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning. It is a software that makes online resources, such as Wikipedia, the Khan Academy, typing programs, and more, available offline. Students and teachers can connect to RACHEL on their computers, phones, or tablets, and have immediate access to a wide range of resources used for research and classroom learning.
For example, during the last training, Juan Reanda, Technology Facilitator at World Possible, spoke about the learning strategy SOLE-- Self-Organized Learning Environment. With SOLE, teachers ask students an open-ended research question. Students then divide into groups, and utilizing RACHEL, they sort through different sources of information to answer the question.
Students then present their findings in any creative form, such as theatre acts, songs, or drawings. With RACHEL and the SOLE method, teachers are encouraging students to expand their imaginations, research, and investigate-- rather than always being told the answer.
As we continue to work with Chacaya and La Cumbre Primary Schools on full implementation of RACHEL in the classroom, our hope is to bring RACHEL to more rural communities-- so that schools without internet connection can still access quality educational resources.