Teachers and the Internet:
A Case Study of Experienced Internet-Using Teachers
Introduction
In 1996, President Clinton and Vice-President Gore launched a national campaign to “wire” America’s K-12 schools. Now that almost 90% of all K-12 public schools have Internet access (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 1999), there has been considerable debate over the educational impact of the Internet. While much of this debate has been entangled with a much larger discussion on technology’s impact on learning, many recent studies have begun to show interest on the role of the teacher in Internet-based education. Most of these studies tend to focus on ways teachers can effectively integrate the Internet into K-12 classrooms. While this is an important first step, it may be that some of these studies are failing to investigate an equally important trend – how educators use the Internet for personal and professional purposes without directly tying it to student learning opportunities.
Problem
This case study examines the range of possible factors that might account for the differences in how K-12 teachers utilize the Internet in a classroom setting. Current research has revealed that teachers value the Internet for educational and personal uses, yet very few teachers actually weave the Internet into classroom activities. While the research offers a number of explanations for this disparity, the data is inconclusive. Furthermore, it seems that previous research in this area has failed to look at the unique constraints faced by individual teachers as well as the specific steps some teachers go through when first using the Internet with students.
Literature Review
The existing research on teacher-use of the Internet falls into four main categories: how teachers currently use the Internet, obstacles keeping teachers from using the Internet, teacher attitudes toward technology/Internet, and teacher access to the Internet.
Internet Use by K-12 Teachers
According to a 1997 study conducted by Market Data Retrieval, 72 % of K-12 teachers use the Internet from home or school, yet only 39% of teachers use the Internet at school with students. More importantly, the survey showed that 50% of teachers use the Internet at home for professional/personal use. With home usage so high and use with students so low, the data seems to show that personal Internet use is much more frequent for teachers. Unfortunately, the study does not account for the difference, and it is unclear if there is any convergence between the home use and the classroom use. The study did note, however, that teachers are more likely to use the Internet at school for their own professional development rather than to foster student learning. While other studies have shown a low overall use of the Internet in classrooms (Zenanko, 1996), the looming question is this: what exactly are teachers doing with the Internet?
While 31% of districts say that teachers frequently use technology to communicate with colleagues, and 38% of the districts say their teachers frequently use technology for administrative work (Soloman, 1998), this is not definitive enough for our purposes. Some research implies that a large percentage of teachers spend much of their online time “keeping in touch” with family, friends, and colleagues (Anderson & Harris, 1995). Although the study was unclear on how this occurred, basic Internet usage statistics (GVU, 1998) show that e-mail is the primary tool for staying in contact with others via the Internet. In fact, the same study by Andersen & Harris (1995) revealed using e-mail was personally gratifying for teachers because it helped them keep in touch, schedule meetings and social activities. Many teachers in this study also found online use to be an entertaining activity and a nice break from work. Will the pleasurable effects of the Internet wear off once the newness goes away? Probably not. Even young student teachers in recent years have said that in the future they expect to use the Internet for personal activity (Bratina & Templeton, 1997) and find online activity an entertaining or a pleasant way to pass time (Anderson & Harris, 1995). So are teachers the only ones that prefer to use the Internet for play rather than work? Absolutely not. This is entirely consistent with the general populace’s Internet habits where the number one use of the web is for “Personal Info” (GVU, 1998).
Although most teachers seem to use the Internet for personal purposes, many teachers also utilize the Internet for professional purposes and with students. Although teachers use the Internet equally across the grade levels, it is known that librarians, technology teachers and elementary teachers use the Internet more than single subject teachers of English, history, science, and math (Market Data Retrieval, 1997). In particular, “librarians are most likely to use the Internet, both with students and for professional development” (Market Data Retrieval, 1997, p.10). When teachers do use the Internet with their students, it usually gets integrated with existing curriculum (Black, Butler, & Klingenstein, 1995) and is used for online research (Soloman, 1998). Unfortunately this seems to be the exception rather than the rule. One study showed that 45% of students never use the Internet at school, and 88% of teachers do not teach their students how to use the Internet (Zenanko, 1996).
While some contend that as much as 15% of student classroom time per week is spent using computers and/or the Internet (Soloman, 1998), it is unclear exactly what these classroom activities entail. Furthermore, it could be that use of the Internet varies so much by classroom, school, district, and region, that quantitative findings like this are meaningless without qualitative details. After all, how can such statistics be justified with other recent surveys that found that 79% of all rural teachers never use the Internet at all (Mathews, 1998)?
Obstacles to Teacher Use of the Internet
Clearly not all teachers are using the Internet. Furthermore, what is keeping teachers that do use the Internet from integrating those experiences into meaningful classroom activities? Some studies suggest that lack of time may be causing some of these trends. “Time emerges as a major factor to be considered when preparing schools for successful technology progression, to allow all involved parties to resolve personal, technical and pedagogical challenges that arise” (Shearman, 1997). In one case study, researchers concluded that “mastering the tools of the Internet requires access, time, training, patience and tenacity. Applying the tools and resources takes all of that plus more time, creativity, endurance, proclivity towards change, a willingness to take risks, plus collegial and administrative support” (Black, Butler, & Klingenstein, p.54, 1995).
Despite these and other findings that show teachers feel like they lack the time needed to use the Internet (Market Data Retrieval, 1997), it seems that an instructor’s attitude toward technology and experience with the Internet may be greater obstacles than time. When looking at how teachers spend their weekly preparation time at school, one study found that the number of preparation hours does impact the amount of time a teacher uses the Internet. Not surprisingly, however, teachers that spent more of their prep time using the Internet also tended to use the Internet more with their students (Ravitz, 1998). If this is true, then more Internet training for teachers may be the answer, and the Market Data study (1997) determined that this is high priority for many teachers.
More incentives for using the Internet are also needed. Both the Ravitz study (1998) and the Soloman study (1999) show that current incentives mostly focus on giving Internet savvy teachers greater access to technology. Is this a natural distribution of resources, or is it just another case of preaching to the choir? Although, some districts provide teachers with release time for professional development workshops and meetings, there is little or no monetary incentive for teachers to become expert Internet users. In the end, though, technology training has proven to increase a teacher’s positive attitude toward technology, and teachers are more likely to see technology as valuable to student learning if they have a positive attitude toward technology (Solomon, 1998).
Teacher Attitudes Toward Technology and the Internet
If all external obstacles such as time, money, and resources were eliminated would teachers flock to the Internet and successfully integrate it into their classroom activities? The research is mixed. Studies such as Solomon and Bratina point out that teachers feel technology is a powerful learning tool. Specifically, many teachers feel that the Internet is important for getting jobs in the future, and “if children are not exposed to it they will be lost in the next 5 to 10 years” (Bratina & Templeton, 1997). Even though the most prevalent reason for teachers to use the Internet at school was a concern over the “pervasiveness of technology in society,” teachers may not necessarily integrate technology in their classrooms (Ravitz, 1998).
Although teachers feel it is important to know how to use the Internet (Bratina & Templeton, 1997), they are not very confident in their current technology/Internet skills. In his study of rural teachers, Mathews (1998) found that 77% of all Internet users classified themselves as novice users. This number seems even more daunting when compared to a survey of general Internet use that found 80% of all Internet users are “very comfortable” with using the Internet (GVU, 1998). Shearman’s 1997 study also reports that “many teachers have indicated frustration with their computer skills and feel constricted by the lack of available time during school hours to discuss, analyze and develop those skills.” Even when teachers do possess the necessary technology skills, they usually stick to the basics. Ravitz (1998) found teachers are most comfortable with using search engines on the web and using e-mail, and they feel the most prepared to use the Internet with students when conducting research.
Teacher attitudes toward technology may also be affected by the ways their friends, family, and colleagues use the Internet. One study found that “there appears to be a relationship between an individual’s perception of whether his or her friends use the Internet and that individual’s perception of the value of the Internet” (Bratina & Templeton, 1997). Another study found that “the more that users perceived those they communicated with online as being socially and psychologically near and the more they were integrated with a community of TENET users, the more they obtained diversion satisfactions from the network” (Anderson & Harris, p.20, 1995). In other words, teachers enjoyed using the Internet more when they felt it connected them to others. Although teacher attitudes toward technology and the Internet clearly impact their personal use of the Internet, it is still uncertain, however, if attitude keeps teachers from using the Internet in their classroom activities with students.
Access to the Internet & Technology
The last related area of research centers upon issues of access to technology. While we know that a high percentage of teachers use the Internet, many studies point out that greater access to the Internet in the classroom may lead to increased teacher usage. A “lack of computers/modems/phone lines, and/or lack of time, may inhibit Internet usage at school more than teacher apprehension or resistance” (Market Data Retrieval, 1997, p.10). Although 89% of all public schools have access to the Internet, only 51% of instructional rooms having Internet access (NCES, 1999). While the 1999 NCES survey counted a 12:1 ratio of students to Internet capable computers, a Milken study (Soloman, 1998) counted the same ratio as 36:1. Why such a high discrepancy? The Milken study had much higher standards for what could be considered an “Internet capable computer.” Thus, it is probably safe to conclude that much fewer than 51% of classrooms have truly usable Internet access. Does this matter to teachers? According to Ravitz (1998), 61% of teachers said they would be more likely to use the Internet if they had access in their classroom. However, the same study showed that more access to the Internet may only be desired by teachers that already used the Internet on a frequent basis.
Further Directions
While the existing literature offers important insights on teachers’ Internet habits, it seems to be inconclusive when it comes to teacher attitudes toward the educational value of technology. The current literature clearly reveals how educators are using the Internet for a multitude of purposes, but much of that use does not carry over into student-based activities. Many teachers may not know how to use the Internet with students; and the basic structure of schooling may discourage educational use of the Internet. Furthermore, an increase in teachers’ personal Internet use may reflect greater societal change than it reflects teacher attitudes toward the Internet. Could it be that our computer-crazed society makes it easier for teachers to adopt the Internet for private use while institutional and instructional systems discourage the use of technology?
Site Background
This study will be conducted at four different school sites in a suburban school district in Northern California. While the study will reflect the larger district’s use of the Internet, the primary focus will highlight a group of 17 teachers that comprise a district technology team. Each teacher will come from a different school site with separate technology resources, different administration, and unique teaching environment. Although each school has ethnically diverse student populations, they are each located in drastically different economic regions of the school district. Within the classroom, each teacher has at least one computer connected to the Internet via a high speed Local Area Network.