Clearly, education, specifically schools, would play a big part in building our broadband infrastructure. Putting a "big data pipe" on a campus would allow students and faculty the ability to leverage the growing learning opportunities out on the internet and it would set an anchor location for infrastructure that others could some day hook into.
Earlier this month the Department of Education announced a new on-line community for rural educators where "educators will be able to connect with peers in their home states and across the nation to exchange ideas and learn from one another".
What's interesting about the internet is its ability to go beyond just "exchanging ideas" and its ability bend the time, space continuum. Okay, not really, but pretty close. What I mean is that the internet allows the creation of marketplaces that don't depend on the physical proximity of provider-consumer (buyer-seller) of information, knowledge, goods, or services.
A mere 10 years ago, this wasn't possible. A decade ago, if you needed resources for your classroom, you were limited to vendors within driving distance of you.Today, the infrastructure exists such that a seller in Monroe, LA is as likely to sell products and services to a buyer in Seattle, WA as they are to someone in their own city.
So what does broadband and the internet have to do with rural education? "Sharing ideas" is easily done with email, threaded discussion boards or blogs. Now, we can create marketplaces for educators. Moving beyond a single vendor to a true marketplace of many supplier to many consumers.
Marketplaces for ideas (e.g. lesson plans), learning (e.g. Wikipedia), for amplifying learning (e.g. Khan Academy), and for tangible resources (e.g. Classroom2classroom.com). We can bend the space, time continuum to provide rural educators access to the vast wealth or knowledge and resources regardless of their physical location. And, the community of educators can share their knowledge to enhance the experience.
Once seen as, perhaps, "behind the times", now rural education can take the lead in leveraging the new digital,global economy for knowledge and learning. Demonstrating that location and proximity are no longer a hindrance.
What's interesting about the internet is its ability to go beyond just "exchanging ideas" and its ability bend the time, space continuum. Okay, not really, but pretty close. What I mean is that the internet allows the creation of marketplaces that don't depend on the physical proximity of provider-consumer (buyer-seller) of information, knowledge, goods, or services.
A mere 10 years ago, this wasn't possible. A decade ago, if you needed resources for your classroom, you were limited to vendors within driving distance of you.Today, the infrastructure exists such that a seller in Monroe, LA is as likely to sell products and services to a buyer in Seattle, WA as they are to someone in their own city.
So what does broadband and the internet have to do with rural education? "Sharing ideas" is easily done with email, threaded discussion boards or blogs. Now, we can create marketplaces for educators. Moving beyond a single vendor to a true marketplace of many supplier to many consumers.
Marketplaces for ideas (e.g. lesson plans), learning (e.g. Wikipedia), for amplifying learning (e.g. Khan Academy), and for tangible resources (e.g. Classroom2classroom.com). We can bend the space, time continuum to provide rural educators access to the vast wealth or knowledge and resources regardless of their physical location. And, the community of educators can share their knowledge to enhance the experience.
Once seen as, perhaps, "behind the times", now rural education can take the lead in leveraging the new digital,global economy for knowledge and learning. Demonstrating that location and proximity are no longer a hindrance.
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