Apache-Navajo Counties: Rural Information Network Perspective

Perspective of Apache-Navajo Rural Counties Information Network (ANCIN)
Phil Downing
January 16, 1996

It is well known that the Majority of the state of Arizona is rural in itsi setting. Although the majority of its population is clustered in the Phoenix-Tucson metroplex. The divergence of economies and societies from Tempe to Chinle is truly enormous. When tackling major issues facing the state such as economic development, and telecommunications, these differences become even more pronounced.

A forward thinking group of administrators, librarians and media specialists representing the northeastern portion of the state has been meeting since 1989 to evaluate their resources and discuss ways of linking the remote areas of the state with the advent of new trends in K-12 education and attempt to position themselves to take part in the "advanced" teaming technology movement.

ANCIN is a consortium of over 20 rural school districts in rural northeastern Arizona who are working together to solve common problems. Remoteness vast distances, low tax basis and other hardships have helped to forge this union. For so many separate school districts to be working so closely together is highly unusual. Particularly, in light of the fact that over half of the region is comprised Indian lands. Reservation schools face a set of unique challenges, ranging from language barriers to cultural issues specific to Native Americans.

The group has retained Projects West, Inc. to represent them in their quest to obtain funding and be active in the statewide advanced technology learning movement. With the assistance of Project West Inc. ANCIN has matured to the. point where it is ready to peruse a more comprehensive arena of service for its member library-media centers. To this end ANCIN has identified the following initiatives:

Develop a comprehensive strategic plan to position itself to link, into current state-wide initiative, for upgrading information technology for K-12 learning and workforce development;

Bring ANCIN participants administrators, planners and technicians to the table to be part of the strategic planning process;

Compete site resource (hardware, software and infrastructure) inventory and detailed recommendations for each member district;

Develop an action plan for implementation;

Upgrade and improve technological infrastructure, including such basic items as telephone lines, computers, software, facsimile machines and other necessary hardware to support each site;

Ongoing training for staff and technicians;

Monitoring and evaluation of action plan and the effectiveness of its implementation;

In developing the above stated initiatives, it has become clear that there are a number of "limiting factors" that effectively act as structural impediments to the successful implementation of a comprehensive plan. We have attempted summarize several of the most critical issues below:

Librarians, teachers and students in the region of northeast Arizona face the rigors of remoteness from academic resources and stimuli that are common place in larger cities;

Technology, such as computers and the Internet promises to be the world to the students, but many problems stand in the way of making that success a reality;

High-tech equipment is expensive and requires trained individuals to operate and maintain it. Many rural schools are plagued by the lack of a working environment that meets the standards of today's rapidly changing world of communication technology;

In remote areas, faulty telephone lines can prevent even good equipment from operating property;

Most school libraries are understaffed which makes it even more difficult to add additional services for the students;

At times in rural settings these issues may seem impossible to become. It is precisely for this reason that rural areas must work together to share resources and find common solution to their unique challenges. It is also imperative that rural and urban areas exchange information as to what has been successful, for the problems of culture and society are not solely issues facing the rural areas.

In order to achieve a more vibrant well-rounded statewide economy, it is imperative that a successful strategic plan for K-12 learning technology be developed and deployed. One's income, level of opportunity and social mobility depend now, more that ever on one's ability to utilize the information resources available to them. In this information age, it will be critical to bring the advent of advanced learning technology to those inhabitants of rural communities as well as to urban areas for it is in many of these areas that the growth will occur and the future of economic stability rests.

The State of Arizona has the unique opportunity to be a leader in this area and to obtain the respect of the entire country for its forward thinking and proactive strategic planning in the area of advanced learning technology, On behalf of ANCIN and the other rural parts of the state, we would like to commend the Arizona Learning Technology Partnership on its work and efforts to bring these issues to the forefront as they truly are keys to the future economic competitiveness of the state.

Phil Downing
Projects West, Inc.
1201 East Cooley, Suite G
Show Low, AZ 85901
520-537-0220
prowest@aol.com