Page 80 - Reimagining Higher Education : Case Studies On Designing For Inclusion, Equity, And Access In The Buka Project

A. Susilo et al. · UTAKSES case study: Advancing digital access for students living in remote

areas without reliable internet - Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia

digital library server to accommodate various images, videos,
documents, etc. should be considered;

● Moodle servers should be prioritised for handling exams and quizzes,

especially if a pattern of exams that can be repeated for one semester is
adopted. The ability to take exams on Moodle servers becomes a very

valuable resource in o ine internet systems because of the importance

of the learning evaluation process.

A mini-personal computer with an i7 processor and 8 GB of RAM capacity
will be su cient to support up to 150 students. Schools in rural areas with 300 or

more students require a setup with more RAM.
The digital divide is not only a matter of the level of access to technology and

material infrastructure, as governments frequently seem to believe, but is also

related to factors such as education, socio-economic status, age, income, and
location, all of which a ect the ability to adopt digital media (Purbo, 2017). Rather

than technology access per se, adoption depends on people’s awareness of the
potential benefits of using the Internet for learning. In that sense, internet skills go

beyond the acquisition of practical computer skills to require specific forms of

digital literacy (Purbo, 2017).

Findings

In September 2021, the UT BUKA Team explored the strengths and weaknesses of
the available proprietary and open-source software to be used as the operating

system on the o ine server. Based on its functionality and a ordability, the Linux

operating system was selected. Network and IT technicians in Indonesia are also
familiar with the Linux operating system, which is easy to maintain and update.

The first package of o ine internet infrastructure included a mini PC, a
cellular network antenna, an omnidirectional antenna, and a point-to-point

bridge already in place. The dummy installation server parameters used in

developing the o ine internet system used the following specifications:

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