High Speed Internet Access

    A common thread regarding our community is the availability of high speed internet.  The Pine City area needs adequate broad band access.  The internet is hit and miss in our district.  Here are a few reasons why having high speed internet is so critical.  

     First, students use the internet more than ever.  Not only do Elementary and High School students use the internet to do school work, but so do college students.  Use of the computer to research, study and learn is common for everyone but especially students.  Up to the minute news and information about our world is at our fingertips IF we have adequate connectivity.  Students read books online, watch videos of instruction, conduct research related directly to their area of interest.  Instruction in this manner is different because it fosters a high level of interaction and "hands on" experiences.  No longer do students sit passively and simply listen.  Now students can control their learning environment to suit their needs.  If the instruction was confusing or unclear they can hit pause and replay a segment as many times as needed.  Advanced students can move quickly through certain areas to get to what is adequately challenging.  Once students get to school the classroom time can be dedicated to guided practice.  Students can ask questions and discuss with teachers the content that they watched on-line.  More instruction time is now devoted to highly interactive guided practice and checking for understanding.  Teachers are afforded much more time to help students learn in a small group or one-on-one setting.

     Second, businesses absolutely require high speed internet.  Without adequate on-line access a business will not be able to complete transactions or communicate with customers in an on-line environment.  Each year more and more businesses rely on the internet to remain competitive.  If we want to improve our local economic environment, then having high speed internet available everywhere in our district is critical to attract new businesses.  Our area is centrally located between Duluth, St. Cloud and the Twin Cities.  We are located on the interstate highway.  Our area is very beautiful with great access to all sorts of recreation.  If we don't grow our business opportunities here then we will also struggle in other areas of our community.  Poverty is a real issue in Pine City.  Poverty affects our students' performance at school.  Being able to entice new business is critical for our community and our children.  High Speed Internet will help with this.

     Finally, families that are contemplating moving to our region are increasingly likely to choose a place to live based on basic amenities such as high speed internet.  If a home can't access the internet then they might very well choose not to live here.  The prospective residents demand access to the internet for their children and for their personal use.  More and more shopping and other business transactions happen on-line.  The convenience and speed of the internet allows shoppers to purchase on-line and have the exact items sent to their home in a day or two.  The entire purchase and receipt of the purchased item didn't require any driving or gas money to search for the item.  This convenience is quickly growing.  

     Sometimes I think of broadband access like electricity.  Some people in the past were sure electricity was not for everyone.  We now know that that is a ridiculous idea.  High Speed Internet will be the same way.  Everyone will want it, need it and use it.  We need to find a way to ensure high speed internet access for EVERYONE.

Do you have high speed internet where you live?  Do you think we need it?