rural youth

My High School has less than 400 students. We have a few dilapidated buildings and a less than stellar average when it comes to standardized testing. But one thing we've managed to excel in? Technology. Our school has done a lot to ensure teachers have the most advanced resources available to help them teach.

Every classroom has a computer and a smartboard. These are frequently used in many of my classes for everything from advanced programming demonstrations to simple educational videos in a History class.

Our computer lab has recently been updated with around 30 desktop computers and around the same number of laptops. Our elementary students are lucky enough to be part of a pilot program, in which there is roughly one laptop per child in several classes. These computers, and the internet, are incorporated into classes everyday.

In rural areas like mine, the internet can absolutely be the difference between knowledge and ignorance. It is the only opportunity for many to explore the world outside their hometown while in High School.

I also read an article about schools in Lawrence, Kansas being changed by technology. Teachers there are using other technologies, such as a 'clicker' for each student in a class to respond to an oral multiple choice question immediately.

Teachers in Lawrence were quick to remind everyone of their own importance, something I understand completely...“You get knowledge, you get facts, but you don’t get the underlying realistic elements in life.” one said.

He's right...there is nothing better than a History teacher who can tell you a war story, or a science teacher who can take you out in the courtyard and blow something up...but these new technologies are making their jobs a bit easier, and hopefully making school more engaging for students.

The President has called, during his Cairo speech, for a way for a "teenager in Kansas" to "communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo" Education Secretary Arne Duncan, along with the Jordanian Minister for Education, recently demonstrated video technology which can allow a student to immerse themselves in another culture...all from the comfort of a classroom.

Thankfully, the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and the White House are investing money where it's needed in our educational system. Technology is an integral part of that system and will continue to become more and more important in the future.

The Wall Street Journal has a report about the state of broadband to the sticks and its progress in an economy aching under the pressure of 8W years.

Ms. Tumbridge pays $60 a month for a sattalite service so she can have a better ISP than the dial-up her neighbors are forced to use. She makes an interesting comment that its difficult to be a small business owner in today's tech world without having high speed access.

The piece continues

"Even cities that already have successful networks up and running plan to apply for stimulus funding to expand into rural areas. Wes Rosenbalm, who runs a fiber-optic broadband network in Bristol, Va., says reaching spread-out and sparsely populated regions of southwestern Virginia will cost much more than the initial $26 million he raised. "We are committed to getting to every area we can get to," Mr. Rosenbalm said in a recent interview.

Telecom and cable providers say they’ll eventually reach the rural areas where 10 million Americans are stranded with dial-up access. But for communities wanting to ring in the 21st century sooner rather than later, municipal projects might be their best hope."

As someone who lives in a rural state higher access to broadband builds jobs not just in developing the infrastructure but in skilled workforce like technicians. It also helps young people feel connected enough to want to stay in rural areas, telecommute, save family farms that continue to falter, and build small businesses to save our small towns.

Are the Telco's dragging their feet because of the cost/benefit analysis is too small, or are they dragging their feet because they're waiting for the government to come in and build it and then hand it over?