Telephonic Financial Education with Rural Low-Wage Earners

When the term “distance education” is mentioned, most people picture learning opportunities involving computers and the Internet. However, distance education can simply involve the telephone. Sometimes called “educational teleconferencing,” or “telephonic education,” it involves the use of telephone technologies to bring together two or more people for education about an issue (Epstein, 1999). Using telephonic education with rural low-wage earners is an inexpensive delivery approach that eliminates many barriers, including unreliable transportation, lack of child care, and limited access to a computer and the Internet. Also, the telephone is accessible to most participants and is a wellknown technology (Gunawardena & McIsaac, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot telephonic financial education program for rural low-wage earners in a Midwestern state, to determine whether the telephone is still a viable educational intervention for financial literacy education, and to present recommendations for delivering financial education via teleconferencing.