Broadband Changed My Life Series:
Bringing Educational Opportunities to Rural & Urban America
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The Alliance for Public Technology hosted another Capitol Hill feature event on January 9th as part of our ongoing Broadband Changed My Life! series. The lunchtime presentation focused on bringing educational opportunities to rural and urban America through broadband technology. Featured speakers included the second place winner of the Broadband Changed My Life! contest, as well as representatives from the PEBBLES assistive robot program and Dr. Rob Atkinson, the chair of APT’s policy committee. Broadband Changed My Life! Campaign Director Joy Howell moderated the proceedings and Dr. Atkinson gave a short introduction.
Drs. Andrew Summa and Bud Stone joined technical expert Dan Broderick in demonstrating the PEBBLES project. PEBBLES stands for Providing Education by Bringing Learning Environments to Students and is designed to keep children in long-term medical care connected to their regular classrooms. The program uses two specialized robots, linked over a broadband connection, to provide medically fragile children with audio and video feeds to their classroom.
Dr. Stone highlighted the benefits of the technology to an attentive audience by talking to Broderick remotely through a demonstration robot. PEBBLES robots are equipped with tools such as cameras, touch screens, scanners, printers, microphones and speakers to create a virtual presence in the classroom for a sick child. In the words of Dr. Summa students become used to the robot in the classroom very quickly because “the persona of the child literally comes through this assistive technology.”
Dr. Stone explained that the need for this kind of technological assistance is vital since every year up to 600,000 students are forced to miss extended time for school due to a serious medical condition. Many school districts provide only an hour or two of instruction to these children, causing them to fall behind in school and furthering their isolation at a time when they most need support. With PEBBLES sick children can maintain their social and academic structure even when physically removed from the classroom. As Dr. Stone said, PEBBLES is “sophisticated technology serving a simple need in a very elegant way.” He also called attention to new PEBBLES applications with autistic children that are in the early stages of development. So far they have found that autistic children respond favorably to classroom settings when using PEBBLES because they can control the level of social interaction.
Broderick went on to explain the importance of broadband to PEBBLES. When they first began using the robots in 2001 they were forced to use ISDN lines at 128 Kbps, which significantly limited the number of possible locations for deployment. Now, with the growing availability of broadband, they can use PEBBLES in more homes, hospitals, and schools. As Broderick says, “there’s no way we could run it on dial-up.” Higher bandwidths are a key factor for enhancing the interactive experience because they allow for video and audio that is both higher quality and more reliable. The robots can even be connected via wireless modem to allow for mobility in the school setting.
The compelling PEBBLES presentation was followed by the inspiring words of Stephen Wooten, the second place winner in APT’s Broadband Changed My Life! contest. Wooten is currently a college sophomore in North Carolina, but according to him, “I wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t have gone to Appalachian State, if it wasn’t for broadband.” Wooten grew up in the small rural community of Statesville and is the first member of family to attend college. “I’m from the middle of nowhere,” he said, “and broadband isn’t something that everyone has.” In fact his own family didn’t get their DSL connection until Wooten was in high school. At that point his interest in learning took off because he was able to quickly and easily access all the information on the Internet.
As he put it, “because of broadband I can study as much as I want.” He read constantly online, especially the popular encyclopedia Wikipedia, and as a result did so well in school that his teachers suggested he apply to college. But broadband has had more than just a positive academic impact. Wooten has a brother serving in Iraq and a disabled stepmother. With broadband the family can communicate over video conferencing with his brother almost every week and his stepmother can access medical information, order medicine, and stay connected to her community. Broadband truly changed his life, and APT is honored to host him here in Washington, D.C. so that he can share his story with others.
Dr. Atkinson followed with a presentation on new research showing the positive benefits broadband and information technology has on education. He provided a bigger picture view after the earlier more specific stories of broadband’s educational impact. According to Dr. Atkinson there is strong evidence that broadband and information technology positively effect learning. They make a difference, he said, because they “enable new kinds of learning.” For example, schools are using the wealth of resources available on the Internet to move towards project based learning. Schools can also interact with scientific experts and even collaborate on advanced research projects over broadband.
Broadband is also expanding educational opportunities through distance learning. Dr. Atkinson said that distance learning is growing rapidly, allowing people who are disabled or who simply don’t have the time for a traditional classroom experience to continue their education. Current research shows that there is no difference in educational outcomes comparing distance learning to traditional classrooms. Considering that distance learning can be more convenient and cost-effective for some people, in many cases it is the best educational option.
Even something as simple as having a broadband connected computer in the home can have an educational benefit. Dr. Atkinson found that home internet use improves academic performance, particularly at reading. “Kids with a broadband connected computer at home do better on standardized reading tests,” he said, and are more likely to stay in school.
Dr. Atkinson’s presentation was followed by a question and answer session that included all of the participants. The audience seemed especially interested in the PEBBLES project. After the questions Phillip Brown of Connected Nation gave an update on his organization’s success working with states to improve broadband deployment. They recently announced an agreement to work with Ohio, building on current work in Tennessee and their impressive record in Kentucky. It was fitting to end the event with a discussion on deployment efforts, because without expanded broadband infrastructure and adoption many Americans will not be able to benefit from the educational impacts highlighted by the speakers.
