LSU AgCenter program tries to educate rural Louisiana residents about broadband benefits

The Federal Communications Commission voted in October of last year to shift telephone subsidies into a program to extend broadband Internet access in rural areas after much discussion about lack of access in those areas. The Louisiana State University AgCenter is hoping to inform rural residents in the state's most distressed areas about broadband through a four-year educational program. Connect My Louisiana was launched in 2011, and will teach people in 18 of the state's parishes about benefits of broadband in business, education, health care and other aspects of local economies. (Read more)

Bruce Garner, an extension specialist with the program, said it's trying to reach people who know little about the internet and even less about the benefits of broadband, Mark Rainwater of the Bastrop Daily Enterprise reported in December. "Everyone has something that they can relate to, whether it’s a farmer needing information about a U.S. Department of Agriculture program or a stay-at-home mom who needs nutritional information," Garner said. "We want to use those interests as a means of making them aware of everything that is out there." He said specialists would begin education by explaining what broadband is, then talk about how businesses and others can create web sites and use social media for promotion.