#digitaldivision

I really appreciated the current 2019 reference material for this week essential question. In the Alaska Business article it talks about satellite data and bringing better connection speeds to rural communities as they lag far behind not only in access, & speed but also cost. In a 2019

Forbes magazine it states  “20% Of Alaskans Don’t Have Access To Broadband Internet.” An interesting footnote is that Pacific Data port was founded by Chuck and Sandra Schumman who I worked for as a training coordinator @ Microcom (their other communications company) training satellite installation technician. They are the real deal and have been providing digital communications in Alaska for over 35 years, they have seen the need for rural areas, specifically creating PDI to address that need.  With that being said the school I have used for reference Denali Elementary is part of the Anchorage School District, and having worked as a business analyst for ASD IT department I can say that connectivity in most Anchorage schools is average to good and decent enough for standard projects. However, recently I worked in Lower Kuskokwim in Bethel and not only cost, but the connection quality was a huge factor in doing online work. I could only imagine what the small village communities face in their schools. I know that I had to change the way I used technology when In Bethel as data was a premium and you would ask yourself “do I need to stream this? How important is it?” This week's question is more focused on how we can influence and equalize the gaps as a technology leaders. Currently I am a Training Coordinator for Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and my position was created out of a need the leadership identified around employee tenure and training. Additionally there exists a technology divide amongst many of AHFC employees as many have been onboard for over 25 years. As a recent example I was tasked at re-igniting employee's digital training via a Learning management system. I believe it is our charter as learning technology innovators to evangelize the cleanest line for navigating new technologies, for whatever applications we are educating. In my case I will be kick-starting a culture of learning for employees that is based around social learning and cloud based learning management. This will provide corporate directors with data about their teams knowledge, compliance and development with intuitive analytics and reporting. The days of bland excel spreadsheet managment are fading.

References:

Knapp, A. (2019, January 16). 20% Of Alaskans Don't Have Access To Broadband Internet. This Satellite Startup Aims To Change That. Retrieved July 20, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2019/01/16/twenty-percent-of-alaskans-dont-have-access-to-broadband-internet-this-satellite-startup-aims-to-change-that/#131f6a7a57e8