Technology a Blessing, a Curse for Remote Island

I won't deny that the reason I started reading this article was because it was about Beaver Island, Michigan. Though I live in Phoenix, my heart continues to be in Michigan but the economy and my dream job keep me here. Anyways...this article brought back some memories of my grandma. The article talks about how technology is startig to be more available to people on Beaver Island, a little remote island located in Northern Michigan. The article talks about a 70 year old grandmother throughout it mentioning how her and some others have been able to use a wide screen TV to communicate with others who have either had or currently have cancer. This touched my heart because I can remember when my grandma from a small farming community in the "Thumb" finally got email and started emailing me. It was great that at her old age, I think she was about 70, she was willing to learn about new technology and implement it into her life. It also allowed her to read about her grandkids in the newspaper for sports. Sometimes I want to kick myself in the butt because I am not always willing to give new technology a try when I really should. Here was my grandma trying new stuff and yet I am in my 20's and not willing. Ugh!

The article also talks about how the school system has tried their best to make technology part of the education process that the students receive on the island. The article states that over the past decade, the school system has encouraged students who are college bond to take online classes and some have even taken online college courses. This brings up the topic we had to write a wiki about this week. This remote island is able to give students a good education by providing online courses for students so they can be equal with others entering college that had those classes available to them at their high schools.

I enjoyed reading this article and actually thought maybe Beaver Island is for me. Since I am horrible with technology and use very little of it in my life, I figured I could hide from it by moving to the island!

Irvine, Martha. "Technology a Blessing, a Curse for Remote Island." abscnews.com. 11-7-10 Retrieved on 11-7-10. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=12081861&page=1