Broadband could be key to closing education gap between rural and urban areas, scholars say

Broadband development in rural areas may not be an economic panacea, but could help bridge the education gap between rural and urban residents, according to two telecommunication scholars. Bringing broadband to rural areas provides the possibility "for rural residents to enroll in distance learning courses that will help them to become more competitive in the national and global marketplace," Sharon Stover, director of the Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute at the University of Texas, and Nick Muntean, a doctoral student in UT's Radio-Television-Film Department, write forthe Daily Yonder.

Distance learning could be especially attractive to rural areas because it doesn't require students to leave home to go to college. Many rural students who go away to college never come back, the reporters write. Only 19.1 percent of the rural population has a bachelor's or graduate degree compared to 29.8 percent of urban residents and 31.5 percent of suburban residents. "The best plan for creating new job opportunities in rural areas is to offer national and international businesses a new type of employee, one with a skill-set and level of education equal to those found in any other region in the world," Stover and Muntean write.

Cost remains a significant hurdle when considering distance learning in rural areas. Some still question the value and effectiveness of online classes. To combat these issues the reporters call for a government-funded campaign of public-service announcements to raise awareness of the benefits of broadband-assisted distance learning and the value of higher education. "If, as a nation, we are poised to create a true '21st century labor-force,' then we need to rethink our commitment to providing accessible forms of higher education for all of our citizenry," Stover and Muntean write, "and we need to begin that commitment where it matters most, in the rural communities across our country using the resources that broadband can bring." (Read more)