Issues & Trends: Treading Water

Michael Molenda

Indiana University

Michael Sullivan

Agency for Instructional Technology

AECT Convention, November 2002

Introduction



Objectives

 Report results of 6 th annual survey of status of instructional technology in corporate, higher education, and K-12 sectors  Compare 2002 data with previous data, seeking trends 

Context

 Survey is organized around the issues of: • • • Rates of adoption of IT Constraints on adoption Challenges to existing paradigms

Overall Themes



Economic trends: impact of recession

  2001 the worst year in Info Tech industry history • • 500,000 jobs lost in U.S.

capital investments in IT declining Tax shortfalls lead to cuts in K-12 and college • Retrenchment in technology expenditures 

Adoption trends: struggling to advance

   Face-to-face instruction holding ground Traditional (analog) media remain popular Faculty still slow to adopt digital … for familiar reasons

Corporate Training

 Face-to-face (F2F) holding steady; used “always” or “often” at 90% of companies   F2F share of training time steady at about 75% (’01) • share of budget increased 2001 to 2002 Print materials also continue high usage rate: 83%  Video (63%) and audio (8%) holding steady  Teleconferencing up slightly (“9/11 effect”?)  Audio conferencing (30%), Video conf. (17%), Web conf. (9%) each grew 3% [self-reports of frequent travelers]  Computer-based training (CBT) shifting format    E-learning share of training time still small, 11% (’01) • share of budget did not grow 2001 to 2002 CD-ROM based training share steady at 42% Internet/Intranet share growing: 27 to 54%

Corporate Training



Trends

 “Web-based self-study” added to survey, 33% in 2002  “Blended training” replacing straight F2F and CBT • 24% of all courses now “blended” (2002 survey)

Higher Education



Student Participation

(NPSAS 2000) 

10% of all students took DE courses

 40% of these used TV/audio delivery  60% used Internet delivery 

Student Satisfaction

   23% more satisfied (than conventional courses) 50% equally 27% less satisfied

Higher Education



Faculty Participation

(2001)

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 E M ai l Li sts er v W eb R es o.

Pre sent.

Di sc . F orum s Si m ul ati on s

Higher Education

 Pace of faculty adoption of Internet-based instruction is slowing; may peak below 50% for more advanced uses   Tools with highest potential for major learning improvement are used least Faculty accept uses consistent with traditional roles  Analog media (still favored by faculty) conflicting with digital media (favored by administration)  Distance Ed losing its luster at traditional universities   Crash of many high-profile ventures Successful business model is elusive for dual-mode • Consortia successful if degree granted by brand-name U.

• Distance-only schools are thriving

Higher Education

 Struggling to pay for info infrastructure   Wireless computing has upside and downside • Add-on to existing wired networks TLTCs growing; valuable for faculty support, but add to cost  Real increase in teaching/learning productivity would require restructuring (cf. Math Emporium)

K-12 Education

 K-12 funding declining in many states  large chunk of cuts are cuts to technology • in Indiana c. 20% of all cuts  Commercially produced media declining  Venture capital investment down 73%  Computers: School Access   92% of schools have Internet access 7:1 ratio, students to Internet-connected computer  Virtual schools take root   but 45% of enrollees are home-schooled or private serve only 50,000 students total nation-wide (0.1%)

K-12 Education



Traditional (analog) media use:

  Usage is hard to track, but certainly continues, is supplemental VHS the dominant format: 80% of titles circulated by regional media centers • video collections dispersed to schools 

New (digital) media use:

  DVD still scarce Growth in video streaming of digital video

K-12 Education

 Computers: Teacher access

(NCES 2000)

  99% have access in school 84% have computer in classroom • Only 10% have 5 or more computers  82% have computer at home • 75% of these have Internet connection • 27% could access school from home

K-12 Education

  Teacher use   50% with computers or Internet in school used them for “classroom instruction”

(NCES 2000)

• Most frequently used to create materials, info for lesson planning, communication with colleagues “A majority use computers daily” reported in 78% of all schools

(MDR 2002)

Student use   Frequency of use of different applications

(Wisc. DPI, 2001)

• • • Every day: word processing, spreadsheets once a week: online “research” few times a month: simulations, p/s with real data, e-mail

“academic” communications

• seldom: integrated learning systems the major objective is remediation in low SES schools; information gathering in high SES schools (Becker,2001)

K-12 Education

  Teacher Preparation and Training  “Majority of teachers are at intermediate skill level” reported at 51% of schools • • • up 11% in one year Most have access to basic training, but fewer (67%) have access to follow-up training Most training brief: Most teachers (77%) had 4 days or less of training over past 3 years Proportion of technology expenditures devoted to training declined from 2000 to 2001  Barriers to Use, according to teachers    Not enough computers Lack of release time Lack to time in schedule for student use

K-12 Education

 Problem of quality instructional materials: Web has created expectation of free material.

(Users want quality content but unwilling to pay for it.)

  Software market has shrunk; few companies profitable Free Web materials not instructional in nature; complaints about quality, curricular match  Problem of infrastructure cost   Schools not prepared for long-term tech costs IT expenditures dropped between 1999-2001 

computer technology not getting cheaper as penetration increases

Conclusions

 “Déjà vu” – computer usage patterns appear to be following S-curve of earlier media  TCO is increasing in school and college  Organizational dynamics explain differential patterns of adoption among corporations, colleges, schools