Summer is here. The RAIN Network / USDA RUS Southwest Rural Technology Project is gearing up to provide Camp Internet, teacher and librarian training and a full year's curriculum to 150 rural communities.

Training Sessions for our teachers will be taking place in Sedona, Arizona in June.

The HomeSchool Campus has opened! A very special and important part of the Camp Internet program, HomeSchool provides a central location for American History, Math, Science and Arts studies, working with our Camp Internet Teachers.

It is great for Classrooms and HomeSchools with some very special content.

For the RAIN Network and it's many exceptional partner agencies this new year represents the comming together of many different parts, including the weaving together of a 4 state Rural Technology education and telemedicine Network that serves California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.

Following September 11 the Telemedicine part of your Rural Network took on an important role, helping to train doctors and nurses and create an information clearinghouse for communities, families and teachers.

Goto: http://www.rain.org/dlt/health.html to view the video archives of a special Telemedicine training session held at the Rural Technology Campus lab in Santa Barbara.


Here is some of what your Rural Network has been doing:
USDA funded Rural Community distance learning & telemedicine Project Activities Winter 2002

Let's review our most active communities and see what's going on this year:

Guadalupe/Nipomo/Oceano/Oak View

Computers were delivered and installed for our partner agency The Chamber of Commerce telecommuting center. The Center is now using broadband DSL through the Network.

Project award of $70,000 was announced by County of San Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control Board to increase technology and GIS mapping services to Guadalupe, Oceano and Nipomo; RAIN will play a central role in the GIS mapping.

We will continued broadband services to City of Guadalupe throughout the year.

Community computers were distributed to youth organizations and the Guadalupe clinics portable telemed computer is on the way.

Our Rural Community Technology Bus attended Guadalupe City and Chamber events to promote access to economic development resources.

The Internet Bus has been touring San Luis Obispo county bi-weekly this Winter.

Teachers from Nipomo, Oak View, Oceano, and two Guadalupe Schools - Mary Buren and Kermit McKenzie schools, and the GETA Community Center attended distance learning training and received materials to implement programs in classrooms and afterschool labs.

This month, January 18, is a special community and teacher Field Trip and Workshop on use of GPS units and GIS mapping by recording data and observations from a hike at the Guadalupe Dunes protected reserve.

8 teachers from districts in the coachella area and another 7 from the surrounding area. 2 teachers in high desert at oro grande also received training and materials.

All these wonderful projects along with providing Internet for our tri-county Public Library Cooperative and for the Guadalupe schools has made for an exciting and rewarding start to the new year.

Cuyama Valley
We have been able to hold Weekly bi-lingual Saturday computer and Internet class held in conjunction with the high school at the high school computer lab.

We continue now into the 5th year of effort to get phone company to deliver local broadband to the community and currently do provide an alternative connection for the community as a component of the project.

A public Telemedicine and Wellness computer has been established a the Fire Department.

Piru
We are in the process of researching reuse of an SCE abandonded power station site as a community technology center.

We have Assisted the school to get enrolled for the first time in Erate for telecommunications discounts. and provide Internet connectivity to library.

Distance Learning - the Camp Internet Program
The Camp Internet project is now serving 9,000 students and providing regional teacher training for Southern California.

Camp Internet staff will co-host an educational technology symposium at Ed-Tech 2002, a national conference in February which will showcase rural distance learning accomplishments over the past year through the Camp Internet program.

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