Learning continues, even when the internet doesn’t.
EDGE is an offline-capable digital learning layer. It is designed to give local access to compatible learning resources and services when the Internet is unavailable or unreliable.
Internet: offlineLearning continues on the local EDGE
Design specification. This page describes what EDGE is designed to do. It does not describe equipment installed at Spectrum or anywhere else.
Illustration. The school, the learners and the equipment are drawn to explain the idea.
Part 1 of 5
Six capabilities. Each card shows what works offline, what needs the Internet and what needs specific hardware.
How to read the labels
Approved lessons, documents and reference content stored on the local server open without the Internet.
Only what has been chosen, downloaded, stored and set up in advance is available offline. Resources are copied while a connection is available, or brought in by hand.
Supported laptops and tablets join the local Wi-Fi and reach compatible applications on the server.
The local learning environment opens in a web browser. Learner, staff and management networks are kept separate, with content filtering.
Compatible AI models can run locally where suitable software and hardware are available.
Local AI depends on model compatibility, processing power, memory, storage and energy. In JEP its role is narrow and supervised: it helps a learner frame questions and gives feedback on a draft, never assessed work. Use is phased by class. Internet and AI access by class
Internet-dependent services, such as web research, advanced AI and remote mentors, are used only when a connection is available.
Online services stop when the connection is lost. Web access follows the class rules: supervised, filtered and logged, with no learner personal data sent to online tools or public AI.
When connectivity returns, approved content and permitted data are exchanged with the wider network.
Sync follows rules set in advance: what goes up, what comes down, and when. It sends changes only, in priority order: assessment records, then portfolios, then content updates. A disconnected node cannot reach remote systems until a connection returns.
Accounts, permissions, maintenance and resource management are applied locally; remote updates need a connection.
Encryption at rest, role-based access and audit logs work on the local server. Security updates, remote monitoring and cloud backup run when the node is online. Security and data in the specification
EDGE is designed to work in three conditions. Core learning continues in all three.
Internet available
Full use: local resources, online services, updates and syncing.
Internet slow
Local resources first. Syncing waits, or runs in small amounts outside lessons.
Internet unavailable
Core learning continues on the local network. Online services pause until a connection returns.
JEP defines how learning happens. EDGE helps make the necessary digital resources and services available, even when connectivity is limited. EDGE is the offline layer of the Hybrid Edge JEP Studio, not the curriculum, the teacher or the purpose. The Studio provides the tools; JEP gives learners a reason to use them.
Part 2 of 5
The design values in SXLA’s technical documents. Where a value is not yet set, it says so.
Proposed minimums and design estimates from SXLA’s Digital Plan and edge specification (October 2026), validated by a site assessment. No vendor, speed, capacity, uptime or user limit is claimed.
Serves classrooms, a library, a computer laboratory or a JEP Studio.
Carries the server, Wi-Fi and power to schools without their own. The JEP Mobile Kit
Serves a community learning centre or partner, and connects to the Hub/Edge when it can.
Part 3 of 5
The Hub/Edge coordinates the network according to its configuration. Each node serves its own learners, online or not.
A disconnected node keeps serving its learners but cannot reach remote systems. Syncing, remote administration and exchange between nodes need a suitable connection, compatible software and an authorised configuration.
No. This section shows the network as designed. In SXLA’s documents the Central Hub/Edge sits at Spectrum Secondary School, holds the approved content, receives pseudonymised summaries only, and leaves each school in control of its own learner records. No edge server, local AI, satellite link or central Hub is installed or operating.
Part 4 of 5
A portable configuration that brings a complete JEP Studio to classrooms and learning spaces that have no computers, server or internet of their own.
A hybrid, in SXLA’s Hub-and-Box design (version 1.0, October 2026): a portable EDGE node with its own edge server and Wi-Fi, plus learners’ laptops. The school needs no EDGE node of its own; a Lite kit can use the school’s computer lab. The kit is a design specification; no kit is in use.
Step 1
The kit travels from the hub and reaches a partner school at lunchtime.
Step 2
Two trained stewards set up tent, power, Wi-Fi and laptops in about one hour, then run a safety check.
Step 3
The teacher leads. The kit serves the stages that need devices: offline research, digital tools and portfolios.
Works offline
Step 4
Packing takes about 45 minutes. At the hub, when connected, the server takes updates and uploads portfolios, encrypted and kept separate by school.
Needs internet
The kit provides the tools. JEP gives learners a reason to use them.
The kit does not deliver JEP on its own: teachers run most of the cycle without devices. The kit enriches the programme; the school carries it.
A school with a computer lab or a spare room
Most partner schools
Long blackouts most days, or no grid
Every size includes the sensor and physical computing kit, as set out in the kit specification; its contents are to be determined based on requirements.
Design estimates from the JEP Studio Hub-and-Box Model, version 1.0 (October 2026). Suppliers, a qualified installer and first use confirm them. No vendor is named.
Part 5 of 5
What offline learning depends on, in plain terms.
Offline availability depends on what has been downloaded, installed, stored and set up in advance.
It depends on model compatibility, processing power, memory, storage and energy.
Services that depend on the Internet may become unavailable when the connection is lost.
Synchronisation happens only when the required connection and configuration are in place.
User access, data protection, security updates and permissions need to be looked after, every term.
Hardware and deployment needs vary by school and by use.
We make no claims about speed, capacity, uptime, cost savings or the number of users served. Figures on this page are design estimates from SXLA’s documents.
Donations help equip the Hybrid Edge JEP Studio at Spectrum Secondary School, built to this specification. Donations are completed on the website of Spectrum TechLabs Alliance (STA), our US-based partner.
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