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South Dakota News Watch
7 October 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, South Dakota, United States
An indigenous community has tapped into new technology to provide broadband internet access which is critical for virtual learning during the coronavirus shutdown of schools. Digital radio waves were used to broadcast a high-speed internet signal covering hundreds of miles of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe reservation. Using radio waves to access internet was only possible due to a ruling passed by the FCC in 2019 that allow radio waves to be leased. Tribal governments were given priority access to broadcast licensing.
http://hechingerreport.org/pennsylvania-district-takes-cyber-charters
Sarah Garland
The Hechinger Report
13 May 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
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.
http://hechingerreport.org/can-high-poverty-urban-districts-like-philadelphia-close-digital-divide-2
Sarah Garland
The Hechinger Report
17 June 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
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.
https://medium.com/bright/the-rise-of-studyblrs-8916998179f9
Kaite Welsh
Bright Magazine
2 April 2015
Text / Under 800 Words
Students in today's technical world are now using blogging and other forms of social media, known as studyblrs, in order to help each other improve achievement through online homework help, communication, and encouragement.
https://psmag.com/news/how-one-school-district-used-buses-to-bring-the-internet-home
Rick Paulas
Pacific Standard
10 June 2016
Text / 800-1500 Words
Many in the rural town of Indio, CA, didn't have access to the internet. Darryl Adams, superintendent of Coachella Valley schools, devised a frugal way to provide internet access to many of his district's poor neighborhoods - mobile, school bus-based WiFi hotspots.
https://medium.com/bright/five-cheap-ways-tech-is-transforming-classrooms-3f0530f0c1b0
Alex Madison
Bright Magazine
6 May 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
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.
http://hechingerreport.org/will-co-teaching-with-computers-improve-student-learning
Margaret Ramirez
The Hechinger Report
10 January 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
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.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jjsnn
James Fletcher
BBC
17 October 2013
Radio / Over 15 Minutes
The Aboriginal community in Australia is 31 times more likely than other Australians to die of alcohol-related causes. Could a "tough love" approach stressing accountability and making rehab mandatory work? Or is further restricting access to alcohol for everyone a better approach?
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/how-online-mapmakers-are-helping-the-red-cross-save-lives-in-the-philippines/281366
Robinson Meyer
The Atlantic
13 November 2013
Text / 800-1500 Words
After typhoon Haiyan, the devastation to the Philippines was hard to locate and track. The Red Cross staffed volunteers to sort through crowd-sourced data to create maps. The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap software application has helped the Red Cross better organize search and rescue operations.
http://qz.com/750020/the-deceptively-simple-economic-case-for-giving-refugees-cash-not-stuff
Elizabeth MacBride
Quartz
7 August 2016
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In the Middle East, refugee camps are expensive to run-- particularly because shipping food aid is expensive, and the refugees feel victimized in an environment where they have no agency or purchasing power. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has moved refugees in Jordan out of camps and has given cash instead of in-kind aid, and new possibilities emerge with mobile money by the aid of new technology. The results have shown that refugees feel more empowered and the costs associated with their aid are reduced.
http://www.newmexicopbs.org/productions/newmexicoinfocus/small-towns-big-change-addressing-the-digital-divide-in-education
Megan Kamerick
KNME-PBS
7 October 2016
Broadcast TV Programs / 5-15 Minutes
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.
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