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
