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22 Aug 2023

MSU study: Pandemic gains in broadband access for rural students are fading

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A new study from Michigan State University warns that gains made to address broadband and internet connectivity in Michigan rural communities are beginning to fade. According to MSU research, one in three, or 32.5%, of rural students still lack adequate, fast broadband home internet, despite progress achieved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students who have no access, those who can only go online using a smartphone, and those with slower home internet struggle to complete homework and stay connected. They are also more likely to experience deficits in academic performance and well-being. Approximately 18% of Michigan residents live in rural communities, […]
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03 Mar 2023

Digital Opportunities Compass: Metrics to Monitor, Evaluate, and Guide Broadband and Digital Equity Policy

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Digital Opportunities Compass: Metrics to Monitor, Evaluate, and Guide Broadband and Digital Equity Policy Reposted from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Daily Beat, February 28, 2023 (access original post here). © Benton Institute for Broadband & Society 2023.”   The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which includes the Digital Equity Act of 2021 (DEA), establishes a broad framework and significant funding to advance broadband connectivity and digital equity. The law recognizes key factors and populations to address when striving for digital equity. To fully realize the full benefits of digital technology for individuals, communities, and society at large […]
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Keith Hampton William F Ogburn Career Achievement Award
08 Aug 2022

Keith N. Hampton receives the William F. Ogburn Career Achievement Award from the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association

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Keith N. Hampton receives the William F. Ogburn Career Achievement Award from the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association Keith N. Hampton, Ph.D. has been selected as this year’s recipient of the William F. Ogburn Career Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions in the area of Communication, Information Technologies and Media Sociology (CITAMS). His years of research explore how social media and digital technologies influence society and the way people interact with one another. Hampton is a professor in the Department of Media & Information where he studies and teaches the relationship between digital technologies, inequality, social networks, democratic […]
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03 Aug 2022

Digital Equity Is an Uphill Struggle

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After years of efforts by public interest groups, the federal government made digital equity an explicit goal of infrastructure policy. Originally introduced in 2019 by Patty Murray (WA), the bill was reintroduced in 2021 and then embedded in the Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2021. Its three programs will fund state digital equity planning ($60M), provide support to states for five years to advance digital equity programs and implement digital equity plans ($1.44B), and $1.25B for a competitive grant program in support of digital equity projects. A proactive approach to digital equity was at odds with the neo-liberal and techno-utopian […]
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19 Jul 2022

#SMSociety’22 Best Paper Award

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The award was presented at the 12th International Conference on Social Media & Society to Keith Hampton and Inyoung Shin for the Best Paper entitled “Excessive Social Media Use is Less Harmful than Disconnection for the Self Esteem of Rural Adolescents”. #SMSociety is an annual conference with about 150 papers. This paper is based on the Quello rural schools project. You can find the Video here-Excessive Social Media Use is Less Harmful than Disconnection for the Self Esteem of Rural Adolescents. Or read the paper here DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4136539
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27 Jun 2022

$10.5MM FEDERAL GRANT AWARDED TO MSU AND MERIT NETWORK TO DELIVER STATEWIDE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE

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Project to create Michigan Open Optical Network – Leveraging Innovation to Get High-Speed Technology (MOON-Light) East Lansing, Mich., June 27, 2022 – Merit Network and Michigan State University are joint recipients of a $10.5 million National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Infrastructure Program Grant that will connect Michigan’s many disparate Internet pathways. This program, named the Michigan Open Optical Network – Leveraging Innovation to Get High-Speed Technology (MOON-Light), will help address critical infrastructure gaps by enabling technologically advanced, middle-mile fiber optic infrastructure across the state.  It will allow interconnecting local Internet service providers (ISPs) to bring affordable, robust, high-speed broadband Internet to homes and businesses in Michigan’s underserved/unserved population […]
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24 Jun 2022

2022 Brandt Fellowship Awarded to Keith Hampton

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Brandt Fellowship for Faculty Excellence The fellowship program is in its second year and is supported by the Ned Brandt Faculty Excellence Fund, named for late alumnus Ellis “Ned” Brandt (BA ’43 Journalism). Brandt, a prominent Michigan philanthropist with a storied career in journalism and public relations, left a gift to the College of Communication Arts and Sciences through his estate to continue his legacy through a series of endowed professorships in all facets of communication. The one-year fellowship recognizes excellence in research, scholarship or creative work by faculty in MSU’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences. All full-time faculty members in […]
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    24 Jan 2022

    Quello Center and Community Partners Recognized with 2022 MSU Distinguished Partnership Award

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    January 24, 2022 Johannes M. Bauer, Keith Hampton, and community partners will be recognized by Michigan State University on February 24 with the 2022 Distinguished Partnership Award for Community-Engaged Service for their efforts to increase understanding of the cost of digital inequalities to rural students, and to help overcome discrepancies in access to high-speed internet connectivity. Merit Network, Inc. (Joe Sawasky, Charlotte Bewersdorff), Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (Jason F. Kronemeyer), Mecosta Osceola Intermediate School District (Fred Sharpsteen), St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency (Kevin D. Miller, Brenda Tenniswood), Washtenaw County Broadband Task Force (Ben Fineman), and the […]
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    16 Mar 2021

    New study: U.S. faces uphill struggle compared to U.K. in COVID-19 vaccination rates

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    Just 51% of Americans expressed a clear willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine compared to 71% of residents in the United Kingdom, according to a new study conducted by Michigan State University’s Quello Center during the first nine months of the pandemic. “The data suggests that due to the confusion that existed in American politics, with even our leaders at the highest levels casting doubt on the pandemic, the scientific message was muddled in the U.S., whereas in the U.K. there was a unifying voice,” said Johannes Bauer, director of MSU’s Quello Center and co-principal investigator on the research. The study on “Overcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy” […]
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    11 Feb 2021

    Quello Center Researchers @ TPRC 48

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    TPRC 48 will take place virtually from February 17-19, 2021. The conference, to be hosted by American University in September 2020, was rescheduled for February 2021 in the hope that in-person interaction might be possible by then. In response to continuing concerns about the COVID-20 pandemic, the conference was move to an online mode. The Quello Center will have a strong presence at TPRC 48. Quello Center Director Johannes M. Bauer and CITI Director Eli M. Noam will co-moderate a townhall titled Free speech, diverse media, and social harmony. In addition, we will host a panel discussion on the role of […]
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