Innovative tech delivers Sesame Street and more high quality digital content without the internet

Photo: Sesame Workshop

Elmo, Big Bird, and the rest of the Sesame Street crew have spent 53 years bringing fun, creative educational content to kids and families. A new collaboration with support from Endless Network is aiming to build on that legacy by providing educational content to families and educators who lack reliable broadband access due to geography or affordability. 

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, and the Information Equity Initiative (IEI), a nonprofit focused on ensuring everyone has access to high quality digital learning resources, have come together to leverage datacasting to share educational content in an offline environment.

 What is datacasting?

Datacasting (data + broadcasting) uses the same signals as public television (which reaches at least 97% of American households) to securely transmit data that can be received by computers. All users need is a WiFi enabled device (such as a Chromebook or a tablet) and an inexpensive antenna and receiver. No internet required.

Any type of file can be transmitted via datacasting, so the possibilities for personalized content packages for students are endless. Backed by cutting edge cloud and software infrastructure, IEI uses datacasting to enable the delivery of curated digital content packages - videos, e-books, HTML files, etc. - through the public television broadcast spectrum. Content decisions are always made at the hyper-local level, and this technology can be used by various “curators,” including teachers and public health officials, to customize and transfer learning resources for individual students, patients, or entire schools or classrooms. As part of this collaboration, Sesame Workshop will provide access to a range of digital learning resources, including content associated with “Sesame Street in Communities.”  

What will this look like?

As a first step, by the middle of 2023, IEI and Sesame Workshop will equip kiosks with public health content in the waiting rooms of health centers in Pennsylvania that serve children. Beyond next year, this partnership will expand to create new digital learning opportunities for disconnected K-12 students, early childhood facilities, and individual homes across the United States and ultimately around the world. 

Why now?

Today nearly 1 in 4 American households lacks broadband connectivity, either due to geography or affordability. However, public television signals reach most American households, indicating that datacasting through the public television spectrum could provide a nearly ubiquitous solution to information access. Working with PBS affiliates in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, IEI is currently piloting projects that demonstrate a variety of potential use cases, including K-12 schools, youth and adult incarceration facilities, and public health centers. 

“Datacasting is an affordable bridge across the digital divide that can be activated almost anywhere in America in a matter of months,” says Langner. “What makes our model so powerful is our partnership with both public television stations, whose spectrum has been developed over decades, and leading content producers, like Sesame Workshop. Together, we are able to work with government agencies, like Departments of Education and Health, to solve a tremendous challenge around information access. 

While IEI’s initial focus is on domestic applications, there is vast international opportunity. IEI is interoperable in 82% of the world’s countries, representing over 90% of the world’s population. To accelerate activation, IEI is in talks with the Ministries of Education of multiple countries across the Global South, where there are over three billion people who lack access to broadband. 

“For 53 years, we’ve been committed to producing engaging educational programs for children,” said Akimi Gibson, Sesame Workshop’s VP and Education Publisher, Sesame Workshop. “You have to be able to reach to teach, and collaborating with IEI will help us meet families where they are with the resources they need.”