Technology and Education Literature Review

Introduction

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 ...