Educational Technology Start-up with a Social Consciousness

This fascinating project shows us how with creativity and intelligence innovative activists can make a huge global and social difference with limited funds and means.

Watch Innovators in Education Episode 5 with Prakash Paudel from Lumened.org to learn more.

Text from the host: “Prakash is CEO of LumenEd. A tech-ed company with a social conscious. LumenED is about connecting students in the United States with students in developing countries. WIth a focus on social learning and empathy, LumenED is trying to create a global classroom. Today we are not only going to talk about connecting kids and how technology can bring a level of social learning to the classroom never before scene, but also discuss what school is like outside of our backyards.”

Lumened’s vision:

“Globalization is rapidly changing the world. The internet, the global economy and climate change have shown that what happens locally can have a profound impact globally. This means that the next generation will live in both a local and global community. But, this isn’t what students are being prepared for. The classroom is still confined to its four walls. Students rarely interact with peers outside their local community. We want to change that.”

The 5 former Oberlin College sophomore students raised money for their project “The Bright Orange Box: Connecting Classrooms” with Kickstarter. The Bright Orange Box is a smart projector that brings digital tools to disconnected classrooms and connects students across the world. It works without reliable electricity and without internet access. The specific project connects kids in distant classrooms globally in a two-way system, i.e. each receives and produces content, in a digital video pen-pal program. The current project connects classrooms in the US with classrooms in New Delhi, India but can be extended to global partner schools in diverse geographic locations.