Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Education

Major Professor

E. Dale Doak

Committee Members

William Butefish, John R. Ray, Gerald Ubben, Everett Myer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide a basis for the formulation of policies and procedures to encourage effective technology utilization in Tennessee Schools. This was accomplished by determining the type and quality of instructional technology equipment in use, the placement of that equipment in the school, the connectivity of that equipment, the status of technology training for teachers, and the provisions for the scheduled repair and replacement of technology inventories. A questionnaire was sent to technology coordinators representing the 139 county and special school districts in the State of Tennessee. The seventy nine respondents were a representative sample of the population. Equal distributions were found in the areas of school size, school spending, and geographic location. The majority of the 21st Century Classroom computers were located in self-contained classrooms (67%). More 21st Century Classroom computers were placed in the Kindergarten - Eighth grades. The participants reported over 52,000 computers in schools for instructional use. Measurements of access were student to computer (9:1), student to multimedia (20:1), student to the Internet (60:1), student to local area network (21:1), student to older computers (16:1) and student to newer computers (23:1). Per pupil expenditures for a school system did not appear to influence student to computer ratios. The average percent of technology budget dollars spent on teacher training was 6%. Seventeen school systems reported no money in the technology budget for teacher training. The most common teacher training activity was local training on software packages. The average percentage of the technology budget allocated to computer repair and replacement was 8%. Fourteen percent of the districts reported no money in the technology budget for the repair and replacement of computers. Examples of policy for the replacement and repair of computers included full-time technicians, the practice of moving older computers to lower grades, maintenance contracts, and manufacturer's warranties. The most common long range plan was to network all schools and to provide Internet access to all classrooms. Nineteen percent of the respondents reported no long range plan.

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