Appalachia's Front Porch Network Is a Lifeline

The small rural school district of Quakertown in Bucks County has become a national model for how to use technology to transform the public school experience. The majority of students in the district take at least one class online and all ninth graders are given laptops they can take to college when they graduate.

The digital divide in America is the disparity in students' access to the internet and technology. In Philadelphia, the introduction of high-speed internet aims to address that divide.

Low budget schools across the U.S. are having students use their smartphones as learning tools inside and outside the classroom. At no extra cost they can incorporate technology into the curriculum through a myriad of applications, from homework reminder apps to free cloud document platforms like Google Docs.

School in various states in the United States are incorporating online learning into the curriculum to track student comprehension, adapt to students' learning levels, and decrease the digital divide.

Many families in rural New Mexico still do not have high speed internet access at home. In Farmington, the public school district, a local college, and nonprofits are working to close the gap in the digital divide for students by addressing access to technology and the internet.

In an era when success in school and the workplace is so heavily reliant on internet access, almost 20 percent of New York City households still lack internet access at home. Fortunately, the New York City Housing Authority is taking steps to address the issue by providing solutions such as installing free hotspots, distributing complimentary Wi-Fi equipment, and even parking digital vans outside of public housing complexes so that residents can easily and freely access computers, printers, and the Internet.

In Cuba, most access to internet is extremely limited. "The Weekly Package," solves this problem--carried by individuals who travel around on foot each week, it is a single, black market hard drive from which customers may download the content of their choice - telenovelas, news, movies, and more.

Frustrated with poor network service and high costs, many Ghanians have had to tote multiple cheap mobile phones around to conduct business and communications normally. One entrepreneur, Kwasi Twum-Ampofo, decided to develop his own improved brand of smartphone, which is usable both domestically and abroad. Not only does Twum-Ampofo’s smartphone boast superior network access, but also—according to most Ghanians— comes at an affordable price.

April Rinne, a sharing economy adviser in Portland, believes that new technology and the emergence of the sharing economy has massive potential to connect talent, resources, and ideas around the globe, particularly in the context of advancing international development initiatives. She works with clients around the world to "help the sharing economy realize its full potential" and challenge the assumptions surrounding poverty.

Many rural towns with limited resources are struggling to provide their students with the devices necessary to stay ahead in the digital age. In Greeley, CO, a town with significant minority and refugee populations that have little or no internet access at home, the digital divide and the wealth disparity between school districts is particularly stark. But the schools in Greeley remain determined, cobbling together old donated computers, salvaged devices, grants and fundraisers, to try and help provide better opportunities and more efficient education for all their students.