Ainsworth, Nebraska, has been nicknamed the "Middle of Nowhere", and with good reason. Ainsworth lies in the sparsely populated Sandhills of north central Nebraska, approximately 200 miles from Omaha and 420 miles from Denver. A community of 1,870 members, Ainsworth serves as the county seat of Brown County, which has an area of 1,221 square miles and supports a total of population of 3,657. Ainsworth has a rural, agricultural economy, with major economic activities being farming, ranching, and cattle feeding. Brown County supports seven Class 1 "country" schools, as well as the Ainsworth Community Schools system.

Ainsworth Community Schools consist of Pleasant Hill Elementary, McAndrew Elementary, Ainsworth Middle, and Ainsworth High Schools. The school system serves 668 students, the vast majority of which are Caucasian. In order to provide students with educational experiences that include technology, the Ainsworth Community Schools incorporated technology as a component of its School Improvement Plan in 1994. A technology committee was appointed to enhance the use of technology to improve students' communication and critical thinking/problem solving skills. The district was aided in 1995 by an Excellence-in-Education Grant, a grant designed to expand the use of technology in the classroom. In 1996, Ainsworth Community Schools was selected to be a participant in the federal Challenge Grant. This grant's intention is to enhance curriculum integration with the use of technology. Through the Challenge Grant's Connection Project, Ainsworth has been able to provide its children with state-of-the-art technology instruction and equipment in spite of its geographical isolation.