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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Leadership Abstract - Rural Community Colleges and the Digital Divide


By Sarah Butzen and Cynthia D. Liston

Since its creation, the Internet-and more broadly, information technology- has been seen as the pathway to a renaissance for rural America. With instantaneous virtual communication replacing face-to-face interactions, farm owners would now need only 40 acres and a modem and could celebrate the quality and low rents of rural life in contrast to the crowding and pollution of large cities. By bringing about the death of distance, the Internet would balance geographic inequities.

In fact, however, the opposite has taken place: the Internet and other types of electronic communication have reinforced the disadvantages of rural areas. Advanced electronic communication has become integral to
almost every kind of business activity and a prerequisite for competitive advantage in nearly every industry, as well as dominating many cultural and social activities. At the same time, providers of communications services have become increasingly concentrated in urban centers whose dense markets promise a higher return on investment, shutting out rural areas from the innovations that were supposed to produce a rural renaissance.

Rural community colleges, with their access to sources of learning and technology and their close ties to their communities, are well situated to help rural areas overcome these disadvantages. What follows is an overview of the rural Digital Divide and its economic and social impact, along with some examples of ways in which rural community colleges are helping their communities embrace the potential of information technology and some recommendations on how colleges can advocate for better Internet resources and skills in their areas.

RURAL DIGITAL DIVIDE DEFINED: NARROWING, YET WIDER THAN EVER

By some measures, the rural Digital Divide is narrowing. The most recent version of Falling Through the Net, a series of reports on digital access from the U.S. Department of Commerce, shows that more rural people have computers and access to the Internet than ever before. In 2000, 38.9 percent of rural households had access to the Internet, an increase from the 1998 access rate of 22.2 percent. In contrast, 42.3 percent of urban households had Internet access in 2000, a slight increase from 1998’s access rate of 41.5 percent (1999). Another oft-cited study showed that 92 percent of Americans live in a county where toll-free dial-up access is available, though follow-up studies indicated that this access was often available only in the largest towns in rural counties (Strover, 1999).

But increases in access do not mean that the Digital Divide is closing.
Instead, as modem access comes to rural America, more advanced forms are making basic access obsolete and creating a new Digital Divide characterized by disparity in speed, quality, and capacity of Internet
access. High-speed broadband access, which is becoming the standard for both business and personal use, is much scarcer in rural areas than in urban centers. In its 2000 study of rural telecommunications, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that broadband was available in 70 to 100 percent of cities with more than 500,000 population; in 26 to 40 percent of cities with population between 50,000 and 250,000; in less than 5 percent of cities with population between 5,000 and 10,000; and in less than 1 percent of cities under 1,000 (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2000).

As high-speed access becomes the norm and the majority of applications are developed solely for high-speed connections, rural users are increasingly shut out of the economic, social, and cultural benefits of the Internet. Lack of high-speed connection is a particular disadvantage to business users. Modem access provides neither the speed nor the capacity to handle most business and industrial uses, particularly e-commerce. In business use, the area of greatest economic impact, the Digital Divide is as wide as ever.

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Dr. Susan Salvador
Office for Student Services
06/03/2003