Michigan State University (MSU) is using a W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant to determine how rural students use technology to connect with the community.
According to excerpts from the article:
“Technology can help advance knowledge whether you are on a farm in the U.P. or in a major metropolitan city,” said Pamela Whitten, professor of telecommunication, information studies and media, at MSU and one of the primary investigators of the project. “We want to see how the youth of these rural communities transform their own lives with some tools they already have and some new tech tools, too.”
The grant allows the opportunity to discover how technology can provide unique resources to interact and create links within a community. A team of six MSU faculty members from MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences designed Web-based social networking technology classes to be taught to more than 100 junior and senior students at Fairview High School in Oscoda County, Grand Traverse West High School and Ishpeming High School in the Upper Peninsula. In addition, the youth 4-H program in Ottawa County will participate in similar classes.
“Our students are showing a lot of initiative, and it has opened some of their eyes to the possibilities within our community and region,” said Brian Sarvello, principal at Ishpeming High School. “I know our students appreciate the opportunity to help their community and especially other teens.”
High school and 4-H program instructors are teaching the classes on-site, and MSU student volunteers are acting as teaching assistants to the high school instructors.
Read the entire article here.
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