Upcoming From Spotty to Secure Connections Four Steps Toward Rural-Inclusive Online Teaching

Main Article Content

Sonja Ardoin
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2157-8883
Ty McNamee
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8654-4337
Andrew Koricich

Abstract

Although rural students over the past decade have increasingly pursued online degree options, they encounter obstacles to online learning. We invite instructors as individuals and institutions as collectives to consider four steps to spur a holistic, multipoint action plan for rural-inclusive teaching and learning practices. The four steps include: educate yourself about rural realities, humanize teaching and learning, analyze course requirements for barriers to equity, and advocate for technological access.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Ardoin, S., McNamee, T., & Koricich, A. (2026). Upcoming From Spotty to Secure Connections: Four Steps Toward Rural-Inclusive Online Teaching . Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v26i1.41183

References

Ardoin, S. (2018). College aspirations and access in working-class, rural communities: The mixed signals, challenges, and new language first-generation students encounter. Lexington Books.

Bales, S. N., & Grady, J. (2005). Talking rural issues. FrameWorks Institute. https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/app/uploads/2020/03/rural_message_memo.pdf

Barr, M. J. (2016). Budgeting and fiscal management for student affairs. In G. McClellan, J. Stringer, & Associates (Eds.), The handbook of student affairs administration (4th ed.) (pp. 509-534). Jossey Bass.

Bess, J. L. & Dee, J. R. (2012). Understanding college and university organization: Theories for effective policy and practice: Volume II ― dynamics of the system. Stylus.

Boggs, B. G. (2019). Planting the seeds, working the land: Postsecondary programs in rural areas. National Conference of State Legislatures: A Legislator’s Toolkit for the New World of Higher Education. https://documents.ncsl.org/wwwncsl/Agriculture/Rural_Areas_Post-Secondary_Programs_V2.pdf

Chen, X. & Koricich, A. (2014). Reaching out to remote places: A discussion of technology and the future of distance education in rural America. In E-Learn 2014 Proceedings: World Conference on ELearning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education (pp. 370-376). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.

Dugan, J. P. (2024). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Gallardo, R. & Geideman, C. (2019, February 19). Digital distress: What is it and who does it affect? Part 1. https://medium.com/design-and-tech-co/digital-distress-what-is-it-and-who-does-it-affect-part-1-e1214f3f209b

Hallmark, T., Ardoin, S., & Means, D. (Eds.). (2024). Race and rurality: Considerations for advancing higher education equity. Routledge.

Hillery, G. A. (1955). Definitions of community: Areas of agreement. Rural Sociology, 20, 111-123.

Hillman, N. & Weichman, T. (2016). Education deserts: The continued significance of “place” in the twenty-first century. Viewpoints: Voices from the Field. Washington, DC: American Council on Education. https://www.acenet.edu/documents/education-deserts-the-continued-significance-of-place-in-the-twenty-first-century.pdf

Hughes, R. P., Kimball, E. W., & Koricich, A. (2019). The dual commodification of college-going: Individual and institutional influences on access and choice. In M. B.

Paulsen & L. W. Perna (Eds.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 34) (pp 415–477). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03457-3_10

Koricich, A., Barnard-Brak, L., Paton, V., Aranda, F., & Flores, J. (2016, April 9). Using the online self-regulated learning questionnaire to understand the habits of online students from rural communities [Conference session]. American Education Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.

Martin, M. J. R. (2018, December 6). For the first time, Census Bureau data show impact of geography, income on broadband internet access. The United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/12/rural-and-lower-income-counties-lag-nation-internet-subscription.html

McClure, K. R., Orphan, C. M., Fryar, A. H., and Koricich, A. (2021). Strengthening rural anchor institutions: Federal policy solutions for rural public colleges and the communities they serve. https://www.regionalcolleges.org/project/ruralanchor

McNamee, T. C., Ardoin, S., Cooper, N., Sansone, V. A. (2025). “Because I’m from a rural background”: An examination of rural students in higher education through a critical, non-deficit framework. The Journal of Higher Education, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2025.2455333

Nelson, I. A. (2016). Rural students’ social capital in the college search and application process. Rural Sociology, 81(2), 249-281. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12095

Rosenboom, V. & Blagg, K. (2018, February 3). Disconnected from higher education: How geography and internet speed limit access to higher education. Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/disconnected-higher-education

Torng, K. (2019, March 27). Digital divide: Broadband pricing by state, zip code, and income level. https://broadbandnow.com/research/digital-divide-broadband-pricing-state-zip-income-2019.

Wilkinson, K. P. (1991). The community in rural America. Greenwood Publishing Group.