Society is undoubtedly influenced by technology. Although some people may not be ready or willing to admit it, technological innovations will continue to play an increasingly prominent role in organizational systems and in all business, social and personal relationships. A snapshot of American society shows that 43 percent of homes use a personal computer (Pew, 1999) and that nearly 45 million homes have online access (Iconocast, 2000). One cannot help but recognize that technology is transforming part of everyday life for many people. But not everyone is an equal participant in this cultural transformation and not everyone agrees that technological literacy is the correct goal.
Unequal access to technology reinforces the gap between the haves and the have nots and it makes the younger generation become one of "knows" and "know-nots". Access to technology makes many skeptical of the consequences of technology and it causes others to be frightfully concerned about the impact of technology on commerce, communication and education. It makes researchers question technology perceptions, technology availability, technology trends and trade-offs. In education, technology is a hot button. But whether you are a critic or an advocate, technology affects the experience in the classroom for young people today.
Both governmental leaders and mainstream media seem to understand that technology and education are important and newsworthy links given the prevalence of initiatives, task forces and national coverage. Studies have been conducted on many levels, but the ones that will be reviewed in this study are those examining the classroom as a specific organizational system, and how the teachers and students are influenced by the spread or diffusion of technological innovations.
The existing literature on diffusion provides guidelines used to describe and understand how innovations and new ideas are adopted within a social system, such as a school system. Diffusion theory attempts to describe the process by which an innovation is communicated through a channel over a specified time period among members of a social system (Rogers, 1995). Innovation may consist of a new idea or series of ideas, a new thought process, a new product or any number of inventions, creations or breakthroughs. Diffusion theory relates to the communication process where participants create and share information with the goal of reaching a greater mutual understanding. The channel may take several forms, ranging from mass communication to interpersonal communication (Rogers, 1995).
The social system, for purposes of this study, is the Nebraska High School Press Association, a membership collection of the state’s journalism programs, and the diffusion process is how technological innovations are perceived and adopted by the high school journalism educators within that system. Nebraska ranks near the top in classroom technology when compared to classroom technology in states across the country. In a nationwide poll by Education Week (Zehr, 1998), Nebraska ranked second in infrastructure development by having one computer for every 10 students in schools, while the national average was one computer for every 13 students. Nebraska ranked sixth in the nation in the percentage of schools with at least one point of Internet access.
Nebraska ranked second only to Alaska in percentage of teachers who use the Internet as an instructional aid (75 percent). Nebraska schools have used state funds, federal funds and private funds to develop this sound technology infrastructure, and the Nebraska Department of Education is committed to maintaining the state’s strong lead in school technology (VanDeventer, 1999). It is an ideal state to use in a graduate level study.
For perspective, the literature review for this thesis covers the constructs of diffusion and innovations, from their beginnings in agricultural studies through their current connection to technology in education. It examines the concept of a change agent and the role that such an agent may play in promoting and restructuring change in the classroom. As almost every academic discipline can recognize an influence of technology, current studies examining technology in the classroom, technological innovations in business organizational systems and technology in the professional media will then be examined. The goals of this particular research study are to explore what technologies are currently available in high school journalism classrooms, to explore the perceptions and attitudes of secondary school journalism educators toward technological innovations, and to explore successful strategies used by journalism educators striving to integrate technology into their curriculum.
Problem Statement
Not everyone believes that technology is a necessity in the classroom or that students need to be technologically literate. As contrarian commentator Clifford Stoll (1999) explains in High Tech Heretic, computers do not belong in classrooms because they stifle human nature, thwart human development and waste human resources. Social critic and chair of the department of Culture and Communication at New York University’s School of Education, Neil Postman (1995), argues that many of us tend to confuse technological innovation with human progress. Technology does belong in schools, Postman says, but it is as a subject matter to be discussed in relation to changing culture. Many other critics do not go quite that far. Technology certainly does challenge the entire approach to the classroom experience, and it can challenge the essence of teaching and the purpose of a school (Cuban, 1994; 1999). But that does not mean it should be disregarded.
Following the lead of government spokespersons and acknowledging that the critics have valuable insights, technology still must be available to students in our schools. As U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley (1998) pointed out in his speech to the National Press Club:
Today’s students are the first generation that will be expected to have technology skills for careers and future success. These skills are the "new basics." By the year 2000, 60 percent of all jobs will require high-tech computer skills. [During] the next seven years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is estimated that there will be a 70 percent growth in computer-and technology-related jobs--jobs with a real future... In this Information Age, information is the currency that drives the economy. If people do not have access to information or the necessary tools, they can not participate in this economy.
Having technology available is not the simple answer though; having a computer in the classroom guarantees absolutely nothing. Introducing technology will not improve or even change the quality of classroom education unless teachers and educational leaders are able to evaluate and integrate the use of that technology into the curriculum (Geisert & Futrell, 1990, Knapp & Glenn, 1996). Education Week’s Technology Report Counts (Zehr, 1998) shows that 75 percent of all U.S. public school classrooms have at least one instructional computer for student use and that almost 90 percent of all schools were connected to the Internet. Technology is already available, there is no doubt. What is in question is the usage and effectiveness of that technology. Numbers tell us nothing about the impact of technology. As Becker (1992) has made it clear, the real question is whether technologies are providing distinct academic benefits to students. This is difficult to answer and almost impossible to measure without looking at the big picture of technology in society. Both teachers and students enter the classroom with previous technology experience and personalized viewpoints on that technology, and all of this must be examined.
The President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) organized the Panel on Education Technology to address some of these issues. The Panel (1997) made six high-level strategic recommendations to America’s elementary and secondary schools:
- Focus on learning with technology, not about technology.
- Emphasize content and pedagogy, and not just hardware.
- Give special attention to professional development.
- Engage in realistic budgeting.
- Ensure equitable, universal access.
- Initiate a major program of experimental research.
Education Week’s Technology Counts Report (1998) shows that 38 states have technology requirements for teacher candidates and many individual school districts have their own technology coursework and proficiencies to be met when hiring new teachers.
Different curriculum areas have different technology needs, too. Obviously, not all courses have a technology component (Green, 1996). To take one small slice of the education pie, the area of journalism education, that which teaches students at the high school level about the basics of journalism and mass media history, the basics of writing journalistically, the fundamentals of media ethics and free press laws and the basics of publishing, is a place to start. Teachers of journalism at the high school level are often called advisers because of the role they have in leading the students to produce a school newspaper, a newsmagazine or a yearbook. These advisers use technology, for the most part, as a tool in getting the job done. Many advisers know first-hand about outcome-based education, because as Rich Holden, executive director of the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, explains, "I can think of no better model of outcome-based education than producing a school newspaper or yearbook" (as quoted by Benedict, 2000). Journalism advisers actively engage their students in word processing, desktop publishing and graphic design; they already use the tools of the trade. Not only must they have working knowledge of the hardware and software involved, they must also promote responsible use of technology by students, including dealing with intellectual property, copyright laws and the effective use of resources, which all become issues when students have access to the Internet.
Some high school journalism classrooms or labs function like professional newsrooms and some are just regular classrooms with one computer terminal. Some students leave the high school classroom with the technology skills to enter the competitive media marketplace and some may know how to write a news story without using personal pronouns. Some may know how to change a headline font’s width and height to fit a column’s space, and some may know how count a headline to give to the typesetter. The journalism curriculum may be atypical when looking at other required and elective curriculum areas at the secondary level, but looking at the larger picture, all career paths have their own technology needs and assessments.
The problem of having no clear idea of what specific technologies are being used in high school journalism classrooms became clear when conversation at a gathering of Nebraska high school advisers at the Spring Contest in Lincoln, Nebr. turned to photography in May 1998. The Nebraska High School Press Association sponsors a contest of high school journalistic work with different categories of competition. The photography category was expanded to two sections in 1997 when some advisers wanted to be able to submit the color photographs that their students had taken, and have them judged separately from the black and white images. Conversation erupted when other advisers asked to then have a separate category for digital images that could be manipulated or enhanced. Others immediately questioned how the judges would be able to determine if the original black and white images had been manipulated or corrected with the aid of some non-traditional technology. Others started asking how it was possible to correct a black and white photograph in the first place. It was all too obvious that the group of advisers was not on the same page of technology use. The innovations of photo scanning and image editing computer software were not "new" to some advisers at all, but others obviously had not even considered the innovations as possible.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to explore what technologies are currently available in high school journalism classrooms in the state of Nebraska and to explore the perceptions and attitudes of the secondary school journalism educators toward technological innovations. This study will also explore successful strategies used by journalism educators striving to integrate technology into their curriculum.
Significance of the Study
After a review of diffusion and innovation concepts, some of the additional literature in the areas of technology in education, technology in the workplace and technology in journalism careers will be explored. The literature review will establish research questions to guide this exploratory study of technologies available in the high school journalism classroom. This was a cross-sectional study of the journalism teachers in Nebraska in spring 2000. The population is a purposeful sample (Babbie, 1998) and thus, limited as far as generalization is concerned, but it will still provide a clear snapshot of technology in a classroom organization. The results obtained may help explain why some high school journalism classrooms are more likely to have certain technologies available. The study may provide valuable information to educators in evaluating their own perceptions and attitudes toward technology and help educators identify their own biases and preconceptions. It may also show who the successful change agents in a school system can be and it may motivate educators to challenge their current stage of technological innovation, thus making the business of education and the communication of technologies more available to students. Finally, this study will explore successful strategies used by journalism educators striving to integrate technology into their curriculum in the hopes of inspiring others.
