Challenges for Rural School Districts

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) convened two focus groups consisting of the CTO’s and Superintendents for rural districts to ask them what their challenges and opportunities were, with the top four challenges being:

1. Broadband access - For rural districts, access is the most pernicious obstacle to taking the digital leap. Even if a school has internet access, it may not be up to par since it’s not cost-effective for telecommunication providers to lay fiber to remote areas where some students live and many students live far apart from each other and the school.

2. Funding - Rural districts are often funded from a smaller tax base and, because of their smaller size, have a larger percentage of per student spending go to overhead costs such as transportation.

3. People - Rural districts have a difficult time recruiting staff, substitute teachers and support services personnel.

4. Understanding the “why” - Finally, some rural communities may be skeptical of the role of technology in their schools and their communities.

The study stated, however, that opportunities exist at the same time.  Rural districts have unique opportunities due to their smaller size.  They are often nimbler and leadership has more ownership of the schools. Rural districts often have community involvement. Teacher retention is strong – often teachers in the town were once students at those same schools.

CoSN (2018). The challenges and opportunities of rural districts in taking the digital leap. Washington, D.C.: CoSN. http://cosn.org/sites/default/files/Challenges%20and%20Opportunities%20of%20Rural%20Districts%20Taking%20Digital%20Leap.pdf

“Homework Gap” Hits Minority and Impoverished Students Hardest

A survey from ACT finds that lack of access to technology and Internet connectivity at home is especially severe among poor, rural, and minority students. It showed that 14% of students have access to only one device at home, and of those students 85 percent are classified as "underserved"—defined as economically disadvantaged, first-generation college students, and/or people of color. This topic is important because there may be specific challenges students will face if they only have access to one technological device at home.

Moore, R., Vitale, D., & Stawinoga, N. (2018). The digital divide and educational equity – A look at students with very limited access to electronic devices at home. ACT Center for Equity in Learning.

https://equityinlearning.act.org/wp-content/themes/voltron/img/tech-briefs/the-digital-divide.pdf

Challenges Integrating Technology in Education

According to this study, K-12 information technology departments continue to face difficult challenges during a time of limited funding, static staff, and huge growth in support of IT assets and infrastructure in K-12 districts. Among the key findings of this fifth annual survey:

-       Information Technology Staffing and Staffing Concerns: Mean ratio of students to technicians is 1,998:1 – an increase from 2010 results, but still lower than 2009 numbers. This high number still indicates continued overlook in K-12 districts to hire technicians.

-       Information Technology Assets: The mean number of students to computers is 12, up from four since 2010, indicating a dramatic increase in students and a setback to the goal of 1:1 computing.

-       Software and Systems: Ninety percent were familiar or very familiar with the SaaS application model. Those very familiar increased 21 percent from 2010, showing a high adoption growth rate of SaaS in education.

-       Information Technology Issues: Similar to prior years, IT funding was identified as the most important issue to resolve for strategic success in 2012. This continues to be a major concern for IT departments as we see year after year.

Schooldude (2013). The unique challenges facing the IT professional in K-12 education: 2012-2013 survey results. Cary, NC: Schooldude. https://www.schooldude.com/Portals/0/public%20content/reports%20and%20presentations/technology%20management/sr-2013-it-survey.pdf