It is the sum of all these computers, connections, and related devices, such as routers, modems, satellites, microwave towers, telephone lines, and so forth. In reality, however, the ongoing loss of family farms and manufacturing jobs to the processes of globalization and mechanization, the outmigration of rural community members, and the consequent economic decline continue a century-long assault on many rural communities. Rural communities across the United States remain vulnerable to dislocations resulting from global economic and social change. Why or even how we should expect them to do this is not at all certain, either. Part of the uncertainty concerns debate about the purposes of schooling.
Views differ widely.
By this yardstick, school reform proceeds at a pitiful pace, and schooling itself is sadly inefficient. We may be better off looking at social inventions instead. And when considering the vast variety of social organizations, growing numbers of observers recognize the importance of scale and the pace of activities. If such considerations are kept in mind, appropriate uses of technology in rural classrooms are easier to imagine. Machines replace neither teachers nor such necessary qualities as patience and caring.