Agricultural Education At A Distance: Attitudes And Perceptions Of Secondary Teachers

As the variety and sophistication of educational technologies continues to grow, the need to know more about the incentives and obstacles to technology adoption becomes more important. The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of an interactive communications network (ICN) for agricultural education at the secondary level. The ICN is a state-wide two-way full-motion fiber optics telecommunications system that connects students and teachers who are separated by distance and allows them to share in real-time video, data, and voice instruction. The primary objectives of the study were to: (1) describe obstacles that may inhibit use of the ICN as perceived by secondary agriculture teachers; (2) describe secondary agriculture teachers’ attitude toward using the ICN for delivering agricultural instruction; and (3) describe relationships between teachers’ attitude, perceived obstacles, and selected variables. Results indicate that teachers were most concerned about obstacles related to scheduling problems and difficulties associated with managing laboratory and SAE experiences. Data related to teacher attitudes indicate that teachers were undecided about using the ICN to teach agriculture. Recommendations included the development ofplanned experiences with ICN technology, the development of demonstrations for using the system, andfollow-up research to assess changes in attitude over time. The evolution of distance education in the United States can be traced to correspondence courses used by corporations, the military, and universities (Bruder, 1989; Moore & Thompson, 1990). Distance education has become more visible and popular in recent years as communications technologies have developed rapidly (Doerfert & Miller, 1995). Media advocates, predictably, tend to promote new educational technologies as an elixir for previous instructional media problems (Boone, Miller, & Brown, 1995). However, the new technologies would more appropriately be viewed as tools that make more and better educational opportunities available to students (Miller & Honeyman, 1993). Many states have or are installing technologies which will enable all levels of education to participate in distance learning programs (Moore & Thompson, 1990; School Tech News, 1986). Will this technology be accepted by secondary educators in general and agricultural educators specifically? Few secondary educators have been trained to use distance education technologies, and most published research has focused on postsecondary applications while ignoring the secondary level. Also, faculty have rarely been subjects of research related to distance education technologies (Dillon & Walsh, 1992). Dillon et al. found that faculty resistance was often listed as the major barrier keeping distance education technologies from being implemented. Negative teacher attitudes, additional workloads, lack of funding, reduced student interaction, lack of time, and technical problems have all been identified as obstacles to the adoption of distance education technologies (Dillon & Walsh, 1992; Hansford & Baker, 1990; Jackson & Bowen, 1993; Jurasek, 1993; Swan & Brehrner, 1992). Additionally, fear of technology and fear of job loss have been listed as further barriers to the acceptance of distance education by teachers (Bruder, 1989; Koontz, 1989). Teacher experience Journal of Agricultural Education 54 Vol. 38, No. 1, I997 with technology appears to be key in overcoming such barriers, however. Several researchers (Dillon & Walsh, 1992; Jurasek, 1993; Koontz, 1989) have concluded that faculty with distance teaching experience generally have more positive attitudes toward technology mediated instruction. The transfer of technology from researcher to end user is a complex process. Five distinct phases have been identified that take place in the adoption process. These phases are awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption (Lionberger & Gwin, 1982; Rollins, 1993). In addition to these phases, individual differences must also be taken into account. Rollins summed up this issue by stating that “the failure to recognize and address the psycho-social component of technology adoption as part of the educational process has served to illustrate that generating knowledge is not always synonymous with diffusing and adopting knowledge” (p. 254). As the variety and sophistication of educational technologies continues to advance, the need to know more about the incentives and obstacles to technology adoption becomes more important (Key, 1994). Purpose and Objectives The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the usefulness of an interactive communications network (ICN) for agricultural education at the secondary level. The ICN is a state-wide two-way full-motion fiber optics telecommunications system that connects students and teachers who are separated by distance and allows them to share in real-time video, data, and