The Ranger, a publication of Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation, talks about programs in Northern Minnesota that promote technical training and workforce encouragement…
Approximately 1,500 fifth and sixth grade students from 22 area schools attended the Iron Range STEM Showcase in Hibbing earlier this month. Students had hands-on experiments led by Range Engineering Council volunteers, local businesses and 25 colleges showcasing STEM opportunities on the Iron Range. A Workforce Development grant from IRRR helped offset bus transportation costs.
Local businesses included Cirrus, Cleveland Cliffs, Jasper Engineering, L&M Radiator, Minnesota Power and NewRange Copper Nickel. Other organizations present included Hibbing Police Department, Minnesota Discovery Center, Minnesota Department of Transportation, The North St. Louis Soil & Water Conservation District, Range Astronomy Club/Paulucci Space, Science Museum of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Louis County, STARBASE and Northern Minnesota Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration.
IRRR awarded a $75,000 grant to Minnesota North College (True North Stars Perkins Consortium). It is a program established to help area students in the middle grades and beyond make informed career and education choices. The consortium offers career exploration and development activities that encourage students to consider factors such as salary, job growth, work environment and flexibility when considering a career path.
The IRRR grant helps transport the students to the annual STEM Showcase and to other events including school field trips to tour local businesses, meetings with professionals to learn about careers and hands-on trade exploration events to better educate students and job seekers about the variety of career paths in the region.
LWB US is seeking to partner with public libraries across the United States to enhance access and usage for underserved youth and families through the creation of library access points within local schools.
Five selected partners will receive technical assistance spanning data collection and analysis, strategy and partnership development, project implementation and sustainability as well as supplies and materials up to $5,000 to support the direct costs of establishing and enhancing outreach and access within their local school system.
Application Process
Applications will be accepted through October 31, 2024.
Associate Director of Mental Health at Boynton Health Cecilia Bloomquist said when she started her career in the psychotherapy field in 2012, telehealth was not widespread until COVID-19.
“The accessibility is incredible,” Bloomquist said. “Because you can expand so many options there. It’s been quite amazing to see this shift.”
Drawz said he noticed an increase in telehealth use from 2015 to 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the trend. Drawz said it was not until then that many healthcare providers saw telehealth as a valid way to provide quick and widespread care.
Bloomquist said Boynton offers telehealth and in-person care for students. Boynton’s primary care team treats a variety of conditions via telehealth alongside mental health therapy and counseling options, group therapy, affinity groups, and psychiatry services, Bloomquist added.
“We actually think about this more case by case,” Bloomquist said. “Providers are making recommendations according to what the person is dealing with and what they have available.”
Drawz said the report shows that telehealth care provides the same quality care as an in-person visit for most individuals. Telehealth can be an accessible option for people who can not physically go to the doctor’s office.
“Some people just can’t get out of their home,” Drawz said. “We do have to pay attention to digital literacy. Not all communities have access to broadband. And so it’s important to keep those things in mind as we advocate for telehealth.”
Bloomquist said she believes telehealth is a highly accessible option for students and providers alike because of its flexibility for busy schedules.
“People really appreciate the opportunity to work in this hybrid model,” Bloomquist said. “It does help providers.”
Devitt said the question for the state legislature is whether telehealth expansion provisions remain and where changes need to be made post-pandemic. Devitt added it is important to be cognizant of how the different types of healthcare insurance — Medicare, Medicaid or commercial insurance — will be also influenced by the federal government’s decisions on telehealth, not just the state’s.
“One of the things that’s going to matter a lot is whether or not telehealth is reimbursable in the metro area after the start of the year at the federal level,” Devitt said. “That’s something in addition going on that just will influence how providers make their choices.”
The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Education, with input from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, today released a resource guide to help schools and libraries evaluate their cybersecurity risks and identify the most impactful cybersecurity solutions. The guide can also help schools and libraries as they complete applications for the FCC’s Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program and serve broadly as a resource for schools and libraries as they take steps to better protect their networks.
“Through the FCC’s Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, we’ll have a chance to better understand what equipment, services, and tools will help protect school and library broadband networks from cyberthreats,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This guide will serve as a valuable resource to schools and libraries through their application process.”
The joint resource guide provides cybersecurity guidance and recommended resources to help schools and libraries keep their broadband networks secure. Given the budget and resource constraints facing schools and libraries, the resource guide highlights free and low-cost options and focuses on the most impactful initial steps. The guide also recognizes that specific cybersecurity needs may vary and provides a framework for schools and libraries to identify solutions that meet their unique needs.
“With cyber incidents regularly impacting K-12 schools, the FCC’s Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program will provide much needed support for schools across the country,” said U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary Cindy Marten. “By collaborating with our colleagues at the FCC and CISA, this guide will help schools address their most pressing cybersecurity risks.”
The resource guide will help schools and libraries interested in applying for the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, which will award up to $200 million over a three-year term. Participants selected for the pilot program will receive support to defray the costs of eligible cybersecurity services and equipment, while providing the Commission with data to better understand whether and how universal service funds could be used to improve school and library defenses against increasing cyberattacks.
The resource guide is part of the FCC’s ongoing collaboration with the Department of Education and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to support the cybersecurity needs of schools and libraries, including the Commission’s participation on the Department of Education’s Government Coordinating Council to support K-12 cybersecurity.
The Federal Communications Commission today announced the opening of the application window for the Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program. During the 45-day application filing window, which will run from September 17, 2024 to November 1, 2024, eligible schools and libraries can apply to participate in the three-year, $200 million pilot program. Participants selected for the pilot program will receive support to defray the costs of eligible cybersecurity services and equipment, while providing the Commission with data to better understand whether and how universal service funds could be used to improve school and library defenses against increasing cyberattacks.
“School districts and libraries across the country have proven to be prime targets for cyber criminals. The vulnerabilities in the networks are real—and growing,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “Through this pilot program, we’ll have a chance to better understand what equipment, services, and tools will help protect school and library broadband networks from cyberthreats.”
Modeled after the FCC’s successful Connected Care Pilot, the Cybersecurity Pilot Program will allow the FCC to collect data and evaluate the effectiveness of using universal service funds for cybersecurity services and equipment to protect school and library broadband networks and data. The $200 million budget will use general universal service funds to ensure that gains in enhanced cybersecurity do not come at the cost of undermining E-Rate success in promoting digital equity and basic connectivity. The pilot program will also allow the FCC to share actionable data with federal, state, and local government partners to jointly address this growing problem.
Interested schools and libraries can apply for the pilot program by providing basic information about their cybersecurity needs, experience, and plans to use the funding if selected in Part 1 of the application. Then, selected pilot program participants will be required to provide more detailed information in Part 2 of the application to help the Commission determine whether and how to best use limited universal service funds to support the long-term cybersecurity needs of schools and libraries.
The pilot program is part of Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Learn Without Limits initiative to address the Homework Gap by ensuring connectivity to and within schools and libraries. This initiative includes Wi-Fi on school buses, the Wi-Fi hotspot lending program, and E-Rate support for libraries in Tribal communities.
Recent research shows a number of connections between online learning and employment…
Individuals engaging in online learning activities are more likely to be employed.
Online learning engagement is as useful as online course enrollment, underscoring the importance of communication via online tools and interactive learning experiences that can supplement formal or structured learning methods.
A significant portion of the observed rise in employment linked to online education can be attributed to increased participation in the labor force.
Online education shows greater benefits for older individuals, potentially mitigating age-related barriers to employment and promoting lifelong learning.
Online education has a stronger impact on women’s employment, suggesting it can help address gender disparities in the job market by enhancing women’s employment prospects.
Good motivation for digital literacy instructors and students.
The State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA) released its third annual State EdTech Trends survey and report. With this survey of state education technology (edtech) directors, superintendents, commissioners of education, and other state-level policymakers, SETDA aims to catalog the way state education agencies are adapting to the opportunities and risks of increasingly ubiquitous technology.
Four Key Findings
The report presents four key findings based on the survey:
State agencies are stepping up to meet the demand for more support on the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in education.
For the second year in a row, cybersecurity is the top edtech priority among state leaders, but fewer state leaders believe their state is providing sufficient funding to support connectivity.
Anxiety about funding appears to increase as federal pandemic funds expire, while home connectivity and access remain the top unmet needs across states.
New survey questions reveal opportunities for state education leaders to support the effective and equitable use of edtech as states appear to invest more in their own capacity.
CTC recently partnered with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to create the first broadband-centered apprenticeship for the states of Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota.
Communications Workers of America Broadband JATC-Upper Midwest has been officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) as a Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) sponsor and approved by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Division of Apprenticeship. CWA and CTC look forward to welcoming other ISPs in the region into the program.
This apprenticeship will provide on-the-job, instructor-led, and online training to employees that are new to the telecommunications industry and want to pursue a career as a Broadband Technician. The program will provide recipients with instruction on industry standards, equipment installation, troubleshooting, and safety training.
CTC Member Service Technicians Carter Atwater and Burke Netland are the first two apprentices to go through the program.
The Federal Communications Commission announced Wednesday its $200 million Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program is just days away from being operational. Eligible K-12 schools and libraries can apply for funding starting September 17, with the window closing on November 1, according to the agency’s public notice.
Adopted by a 3-2 FCC vote in June, the three-year pilot program will bolster cybersecurity protections for educational institutions, which have become frequent targets of ransomware attacks and data breaches due to the large amounts of personal data they manage, including addresses, social security numbers, and medical information.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday took the first step toward creating a pilot program to invest millions of dollars into cybersecurity software for eligible K-12 schools and libraries.
The agency voted to adopt the proposal 3-2, with Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissenting.
“The vulnerabilities in the networks that we use in our nation’s schools and libraries are real and growing, so today we’re going to do something about it,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in her statement.
The proposal, first introduced last November, would provide $200 million from the Universal Service Fund to pay for firewall protections in eligible schools and libraries over the next three years. The funds will also go toward studying the most effective equipment, services and tools to safeguard digital infrastructure.
Thanks to Steve Kraus I had the opportunity to join the Office of Broadband Development on a visit with folks in Waseca to talk about broadband use and need. We stopped to visit the library, the superheroes of the pandemic era, especially in an area without ubiquitous broadband. We visited with the Warden of the federal women’s prison and several stops related to farming or ag business. They are great stories of people making smart use of technology.
9:30am – Board of Commissioners Meeting and OBD Presentation
It was great to meet the Commissioners in the person, after meeting them through Zoom last summer. There were 12 people in attendance. They discussed a number of topics but I focused on broadband. Hannah Buckland from the Office of Broadband Development gave a presentation. Commissioners had questions about communities with excellent broadband, such as Rock County and NW MN.
11:00am – Visit to Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library
We spoke to librarians about how their Digital Equity plan evolved. Initially, they had one person who did digital training, which wasn’t enough for a library system with nine locations. Also, the classes weren’t well attended. It turned out there was need but patrons needed them on-demand. So, they shifted to helping patrons on a question-by-question basis. Then we thought about a more system way to address the needs.
They have 9 libraries and only one has more than one person behind the desk.
5 libraries are open fewer than 23 hours a week
Very little tech training for staff
Most patrons don’t have jobs that require digital skills. So, they don’t have basic skills. They need help. Users share their passwords. People feel shame.
Many people have phones only for technology so they come in for needs – such as related to telehealth.
Need more reliable broadband for distance higher ed.
Most frequent questions are about printing
They still circulate hotspots. They had 500 hotspots until grant ran out; now they have around 20 and that’s because of vocal demand.
They want to help but we don’t have the capacity. Theydid a survey with patrons are learned that people like to figure things out on their own, then learn through videos.
The dream solution is to have Digital Navigators. They want to promote creativity online and content producers.
A plan from OBD is to have noncompetitive grants for libraries. But the budget and timeline are vague. There will be funding available and this is in line with what it’s for.
Favorite COVID stories:
They held a Folktales and Fairies online event where kids from all over the world attended. And they were able to get authors who would not have been available if it required travel. Even author-to-author connections were unusual and outstanding.
11:40am – Tour of AURI Bioindustrial Innovation Center
Alan Doering, Senior Scientist for Coproducts
The tour says it all – with great enthusiasm. AURI works with businesses to test and research their technology. A lot of what they work on is creating sustainable solutions, such as replacing plastic with byproducts that are biodegradable. They need broadband to promote and remote what they do but they need serious broadband to transmit and process data remotely.
It is a nice example of how broadband contributes to sustainability.
12:15pm – Lunch at U of M Southern Research Outreach Center (SROC)
Lunch provided by Lush Cakes
Jason Stenzel, Director of Operations at SROC
Exploring how SROC is helping to bridge the digital divide in all sectors of the Agricultural Economy
Warden Michael Segal, Federal Correctional Institution Waseca
Upskilling and education for incarcerated individuals. Warden Segal will walk through his philosophy of corrections and discuss some unique and creative tools implemented at FCI Waseca.
Fun to learn about U of M Southern Research Outreach Center. One of the things they do is track local weather. Apparently, checking the local tracking of local weather is a popular activity with local farmers and beyond. Folks use broadband to access the information but the SROC uses more to upload and process the multiple factors associated with all aspects of weather measures.
Also interesting to learn about broadband in the federal women’s prison. Warden Segal is clearly dedicated to presenting inmates with opportunities to improve their lives in and out of the prison, including a wide range of educational opportunities. Broadband has bee essential in delivering remote education.
1:30pm – Jeff Huelsnitz (Huey) Farm
Jeff will discuss precision planting and agriculture and demonstrate some of the equipment used in this critical sector.
The Hueys have a large family farm but are also precision ag equipment dealers. They got interested in precision ag early and have become local experts. They talk about the difference that precision ag came make – for example they track seeds as they are sown, including skipped and double-seed drops, which apparently can cost 20 bushels per acre. They are often able to improve precision rates from 95 percent to almost 100 percent by helping people adopt precision ag. They also talk about the importance of time management in farming and how much can be spent or save regularly.
Inherent in precision ag is the need for broadband. Often a farm with want FTTH, a wifi network and cellular access to cover the needs of the farm business and crop tracking in the field. Hueys admit that their connectivity is fine, but not great. They work with some folks who have broadband that’s less than fine and want to work on precision-ag-adjacent solutions – but really can’t. No need to buy the best equipment if you can’t get online. In that case maybe there’s a way to make the tractor faster or find other fixes. But a farm without broadband is missing opportunities and going back to the first stop of the tour, that means loss of profits but also minimizes sustainability for the land.
Thursday, May 16, 2024, marks the 13th year of celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). If you’re looking for a way to gain a new perspective on digital access and inclusion, try the No-Mouse Challenge: do work on your computer for 15 minutes without a mouse.
Are people in your community seeking digital access to healthcare and information? Explore the possibilities of telehealth at your library through this new class from the Network of the National Library of Medicine.
This class introduces telehealth, why it’s important, and how it enables people to have greater access to quality healthcare. Explore how different libraries provided patrons in their communities with access to telehealth services.
You will need to create a free NNLM account, but there is no cost to take the course.
USA Today reports on the dangers of technology policies that lack nuance…
There’s a common complaint among high school students across the country, and it has nothing to do with curfews or allowances: Internet filters are preventing them from doing online research at school. Records obtained by The Markup from districts across the country show just how broadly schools block content, forcing students to jump through hoops to complete assignments and even keeping them from resources that could support their health and safety.
School districts must block obscene or harmful images to qualify for federally-subsidized internet access under the Children’s Internet Protection Act, passed by Congress nearly 25 years ago. But the records, from 16 districts across 11 states, show they go much further. Schools are limiting not only what images students can see, but what words they can read.
Some of the censorship inhibits students’ ability to do basic research on sites like Wikipedia and Quora. Students have also been blocked from visiting websites that web-filtering software categorizes as “education,” “news,” or “informational.” But even more concerning for some students are blocks against sex education, abortion information, and resources for LGBTQ+ teens—including suicide prevention.
MN HF5065 (money for STEM programming) was held over for possible inclusion in a committee finance bill. The Session Daily reports…
A pair of one-time appropriations both from the Workforce Development Fund aim to assist the Minnesota STEM Project and Milestone Tech Program.
Sponsored by Rep. Samakab Hussein (DFL-St. Paul), HF5065 would appropriate $750,000 in fiscal year 2024 and the same amount in fiscal year 2025 to each group. Per the bill, “In each year, 30 percent of the money granted under this section must be awarded as subgrants to nonprofits located within the city of St. Paul.”
The House Workforce Development Finance and Policy Committee held the bill over Wednesday for possible inclusion in a committee finance bill.
Minneapolis-based Milestone Community Development develops programs fostering economic growth in underserved and economically distressed neighborhoods.
Additional funds would focus on developing new training programs and maintaining existing programs in technology fields, especially for people of color who are underrepresented in technology careers, Hussein said.
In part, I’m sharing this because I want someone to attend and tell me about it. But also, it’s a great opportunity to get folks interested in cyber security and that would be a nice industry cluster for rural Minnesota! From the nonprofit, ITExperience…
We are Introducing our new Cyber Investigator Interactive game
You will be able to Join a team of cybersecurity investigators as they respond to a series of different cyber-attacks. Travel through three different industries to help them conduct interviews, stop the attacks, solve puzzles, and restore things to normal.
Duration: 1: 30mins
Do you want to have fun playing a game and also learn a lot about how cyber detectives work on a day-to-day basis?
Thanks to Steve Kraus I had the opportunity to join the Office of Broadband Development on a visit with folks in Waseca to talk about broadband use and need. We stopped to visit the library, the superheroes of the pandemic era, especially in an area without ubiquitous broadband. We visited with the Warden of the federal women’s prison and several stops related to farming or ag business. They are great stories of people making smart use of technology.