Oklahoma State University: Revitalizing Rural: Equipping Rural Communities With Technology Literacy For Seizing Pr ...

Press release from Oklahoma State University:

2021-12-22

Media Contact:
Kristi Wheeler | Manager, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-5831 | kristi.wheeler@okstate.edu

An interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff and students is working on a National
Science Foundation (NSF) pilot research program to help determine if improving technology
literacy can help people find new ways to make their rural communities thrive.

For many reasons, there is a decline of sustainability, quality of life, and economic
opportunities for citizens of rural communities. However this shouldn’t be the case.
With broadband Internet and associated technologies rapidly becoming available to
rural areas, it’s never been more possible to thrive in these types of communities.

Communities in the U.S. and around the world are entering a new era of transformation
in which residents and their surrounding environments are increasingly connected through
rapidly-changing intelligent technologies. However, the availability and productive
utilization of such technologies are two different things.

An ongoing problem in rural areas is that community members aren’t really sure what
to do with broadband once they have it, or what other capabilities of and opportunities
it may bring. In other words, if communities had greater technology literacy, they
could translate new “connected” technologies to entrepreneurial and remote work opportunities
that could revolutionize rural productivity and sustainability.  

“With a broadband connection, some basic knowledge, and a good idea, you can combine
electronics, cloud resources, websites, sensors, or just about anything in a productivity
opportunity," said Dr. John O'Hara, assistant professor and principle investigator
of the project.

This interdisciplinary team came up with Productivity Enhancing Technology Experience
Kits or “Pete-Kits” to help solve this problem. These simple hands-on kits are basic
combinations of electronics, sensors, cameras, and cloud connectivity resources (with
partner Amazon AWS). They will be designed to help people become knowledgeable and
functional in today’s technology, to spawn new ideas, new business ventures, and build
productivity. This pilot research program is to see just how well these Pete-Kits
work.

The project will initially focus on the community of Frederick, Oklahoma. Frederick
High School students and the greater Frederick community will team up with OSU to
design and test the Pete-Kits over the next year.  

This project recently began when the team traveled to Frederick to visit with members
of their community along with Frederick’s local high school robotics team, led by
partner Thomas Hensley. They encouraged the robotics team and entire community to
think about what community problems they want to solve. Pete-Kits will be tailored
to match community needs with the technology literacy required to meet those needs.

This is a year-long pilot program. If successful, the team plans to transition this
much more widely across the state to other rural communities. The hope is that all
rural communities will enthusiastically recognize that they can equip themselves to
face and solve their unique challenges.

The team consists of:Dr. John O’Hara, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, OSUDr. Julie Angle, associate professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Sciences,
OSUDr. Sabit Ekin, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, OSUMatthew Rutherford, professor of EntrepreneurshipBrian Whitacre, professor of Agricultural Economics, OSULevi Captain, undergraduate student in ECEChristina Biedny, doctoral student in Agricultural EconomicsMr. Thomas Hensley, leads the Frederick High School Bombers robotic team

This press release was produced by Oklahoma State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.