CHAPTER 4

Introduction

The focus of this study has been to describe the current state of Internet usage and it's impact in private schools in the southeastern United States. Through the literature, a thorough reflection of the general attitudes, opinions, impact, and statistics of Internet usage across America was obtained. Through the survey used in this study, an analysis of Internet usage, comments, opinions, attitudes, and statistics of teachers in private schools in the southeastern United States is presented.

Specifically, this chapter includes the information gathered from the survey instrument in response to, but not limited to, the following research questions of the study:

In private education in the southern United States,

1) Are teachers using the Internet in class?

2) What is the frequency of use?

3) Do teachers perceive improvements that are directly related to Internet usage?

4) What Internet tools have proved to be most effective for the students to use?

5) Should the skills needed to traverse the Internet be considered a basic skill?

6) Are teachers using the Internet to learn more about their subject area?

7) Are schools taking an active role in getting their classrooms connected to the Internet? Are they encouraging use of the Internet in class?

8) Do schools taking an active role in training (or helping to train) teachers to use the Internet in class?

9) Do teachers see the Internet as a powerful media of instruction? Do the positive traits outweigh the negative for using the Internet is class?

10) What relationships exist between age, subject, years of experience, or degree as they relate to Internet usage?

Description of the Sample Population

The survey administered in this study (See Appendix B) was sent to thirty private schools in the United States, randomly selected from The Handbook of Private Schools (1998) and surveys were returned from thirteen (13) schools with a total of one hundred-two responses. There were more female than male teachers (See Table 5) represented in the survey and the average age of the teachers was in the forty to fifty year group (See Table 8). The mean number of years experience for the teachers (see Table 7) was ten to fifteen years and they evenly represented grades six through twelve (See Table 9).

__________________________________________

Table 5

Number of responses by sex

_______________________________________________________________________

Sex Returned Surveys

_______________________________________________________________________

Female 63

Male 36

NR 3

_____

Table 6

Number of responses by age

____________________________________________________________________

Age Returned Surveys

____________________________________________________________________

50+ 26

40-50 34

30-40 17

20-30 23

NR 2

_____

Table 7

Number of responses by years of experience

________________________________________________________________________

Years Experience Returned Surveys

________________________________________________________________________

15+ 22

10-15 38

5-10 15

0-5 24

NR 3

_____

Teachers with (10-15) years of experience (See Table 7) returned the most, thirty-eight (38), more than doubling the returns for the newer teachers (5-10 years). The (15+ years) experience and least experienced (0-5 years) both submitted in the low twenties.

Table 8

Number of responses by subject area

(Some teachers teach more than 1 subject)

________________________________________________________________________

Subject Returned Surveys

________________________________________________________________

English 26

Math 21

History 21

Science 18

Computer 10

Language 10

Geography 5

Religion 3

Art 2

Music 2

PE 1

Economics 1

NR 7

_____

Total 137

_______________________________________________

Table 9

Number of responses by grade

(Some teachers teach more than 1 grade)

_______________________________________________________________________

Grade Returned Surveys

_______________________________________________________________________

6 38

7 47

8 51

9 32

10 36

11 33

12 36

NR 4

_____

Total 277

_______________________________________________

The returns by grade level (See Table 9) were pretty even and steady across all levels. Seventh and eighth grade teachers responded the most with fifty-one (51) and forty-seven (47). All others were between thirty-two (32) and thirty-eight (38).

Are teachers using the Internet is class? If so, how often?

Table 10

Internet usage in the classroom

There was almost three times the number of Internet-users (in class) than non-users (See Table 10). It is likely that the NR responses would be non-users, but that cannot be verified. The number of 'Yes'(sixty-nine) responses is actually higher than the number who responded that there was an Internet connection in the classroom. This can be justified with number of NR responses.

Table 11

Computer and Internet access

________________________________________________________________________

Computer at Home? Computer in Classroom? Have Internet in classroom?

________________________________________________________________

Yes 94 87 65

No 8 15 36

NR 1

_____ ______ ________

Eighty-seven (87) of the surveyed teachers have at least one computer in their classroom (See Table 11) . Three fourths (¾) of these actively use the Internet in the classroom. Almost all responded that they had a computer at home. Sixty-five (65) of the surveyed teachers have and use at least one Internet connection in the classroom.

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Table 12

By state, the number of teachers who use Internet in class

____________________________________________________________________

TEACHERS USING

STATE INTERNET IN CLASS

____________________________________________________________________

South Carolina 30/35 (86%)

Florida 14/17 (83%)

Alabama 12/13 (92%)

Tennessee 10/12 (83%)

Georgia 12/17 (71%)

North Carolina 8/8 (100%)

Each state (See Table 12) had a pretty high rate of Internet usage (Georgia had the lowest with a still very high seventy-one percent (71%)). The average rate for all returned surveys was eighty-six percent (86%). North Carolina had one hundred percent (100%) usage rate, but also only eight returns, all from one school which was very active with technology. The percentages were not skewed , even though the total number received from the six states varied (especially South Carolina)

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Table 13

Frequency of Internet Use

____________________________________________________________________

Frequency Returned Surveys

____________________________________________________________________

More than once a week 29

Once a week 9

Once every 2 or 3 weeks 10

Once a month 13

Once a semester 8

Once a year 0

Never, but want to 15

No use at all 9

NR 9

_____

Total 102

Table 14

Opinions about the Internet

______________________________________________________________________

School should train If you knew more, Are Internet skills Is it worth it?

Teachers? would you use it? part of basic skills of

education?

______________________________________________________________________

Yes 87 82 80 91

No 6 9 16 2

NR 9 11 6 9

_____ ______ _______ _______

Almost one-third of the teachers responded that they use the Internet at least once per week in class (See Table 14) . The next highest percentage was in the "Never, but want to" coincides with the fact that eighty-two percent (82%) of the respondents said they would use the Internet more in class if they could learn more about it. More than fifty percent (50%) of those teachers who use the Internet use it at least every couple weeks. Less than ten percent (10%) of the teachers said they had never used it and have no plans to use it. Over ninety percent (90%) of the teachers responded that it is worth the money, time, energy, and work to get our schools connected. Even the teachers who did not use it saw a need for Internet skills for the students.

Do teachers perceive improvements that are directly related to Internet usage?

Fifty-nine (59) teachers said that their classes were better because of the Internet. Only twenty-eight (28) teachers said that they did use the Internet but did not feel that their class was any better because of it.

Are there measurable improvements in your class

directly related to using the Internet?

________________________________________________________________________

Yes 36

No 28

If so, what are they?

Increased participation 36

Better test/quiz/homework scores 10

Increased attendance 1

_______________________________________________________________________

Are there non-measurable improvements in your class

directly related to using the Internet?

________________________________________________________________________

Yes 58

No 8

If so, what are they?

Increased enthusiasm 49

Increased motivation 41

Increased higher learning skills 15

Increased social skills 7

_______________________________________________

One hundred percent (100%) of the teachers, who saw improvement, listed participation as one of the areas where they could measure improvement. Ten (10) teachers felt actual grades were increasing (See Table 15) . Over ninety percent (90%) of the teachers who saw non-measurable improvement listed increased enthusiasm and motivation as the two main areas of improvement. These results are consistent with the National Survey on Internet Usage (1997), the O-Hara (1998) study, and NCES (1997) study.

Eighty-five percent (85%) of the teachers felt that the Internet offered the students things they are not able to get out of a textbook. However, only about half of the teachers who felt that their classes were better because of the Internet felt that the students also improved because of the Internet usage.

Sixty-one percent (61%) of the teachers felt that they were actually better teachers, at least in part, because of the Internet.

An interesting point that almost all of the teachers, who actively use the Internet in class, said was that they did not have to drastically change their curriculum to incorporate the Internet into their class.

What Internet tools have proved to be most effective for the students to use?

Table 16

Internet tool usage

________________________________________________________________________

What do you use in class? What is most valuable?

________________________________________________________________

Search engines 65 69

E-mail 50 47

Specific web site 43

On-line magazine/article 30 34

Download 19 15

Newsgroups 16 13

Design web pages 12 2

Live(or recorded) audio or video 6

Bulletin Board, message board 5

Chat room 1

_______________________________________________

Almost all users of the Internet listed the search engines (See Table 16) as both the most used tool and the most valuable tool for their classroom. This indicates that the major use of Internet activity is for research. Of course E-mail was the next highest for both teacher and student Internet use. Teachers identified 'going to a specific website' and ' on-line magazines' as the third and fourth most used activity during class. Downloads, newsgroups, and designing web pages were listed, but not as commonly used. An interesting point is that only one teacher listed chat rooms as used in class and no teachers valued it as important. This statistic might sooth some of the fears of worried parents and skeptic teachers.

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Table 17

School Support and Training

________________________________________________________________

Support efforts Training Assistance to learn

In class? Available? (money, time)?

________________________________________________________________________

Yes 89 69 75

No 3 28 21

NR 10 5 6

_____ ______ ________

Almost ninety percent (90%) of all returned surveys said their school supports their on-line efforts in class. Very few, three, said that their school did not (See Table 17). Almost seventy percent (70%) reported training opportunities at school for the Internet. Approximately the same percentage felt that their school offered assistance in their own efforts to learn about the Internet.

Are teachers using the Internet to learn more about their subject area?

Table 18

Professional self-development using Internet

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Do you use the Internet to learn more about your subject area?

________________________________________________________________________

Yes 82

No 18

NR 2

_______________________________________________

Eighty-two (82) of the teachers who responded said they use the Internet in their extra time to learn more about the Internet. An interesting point: Twelve of the above eighteen (18) 'No' responses were by teachers who did not have any Internet access in their classroom. Eighty-seven (87) teachers responded that they were better teachers because of something that the Internet has offered them (See Table 18).

Are schools taking an active role in getting their classrooms connected to the Internet? Are they encouraging use of the Internet in class?

One school, in Georgia, is now in the process of installing one hundred percent (100%) wireless LAN, which would provide instant Internet access from anywhere on campus. They were extremely proud of their effort and the teachers, while they did not have any access now, all wrote comments about what they hope to do. The excitement level was very evident.

Eighty-five (85) of the teachers (See Table 11) responded that they had a computer in their room and sixty-five (65) responded as having Internet access. Eighty-nine (89) teachers (See Table 17) said that the school supports their efforts to experiment with the Internet in class.

Are schools taking an active role in training (or helping to train) teaches to use the Internet in class?

Eighty-seven (87) (See Table 15) of the surveyed teachers felt that schools should be training their faculty to use the Internet. Sixty-nine (69) of the teachers said their schools already offer training for the Internet and seventy-five (75)teachers said that the school offers assistance (time or money) to learn about the Internet.

Do teachers see the Internet as a powerful media of instruction?

Over eighty percent (80%) of the returned surveys said that Internet skills should be included in the basic educational skills such as math, science, or English. Eighty-five percent (85%) said that the Internet offers something they cannot find in a textbook. More than twenty percent (20) of the surveys had comments about the up-to-date data that is available on the Internet, which helps to supplement the textbook. Eight-five (85) of the teachers felt that it was worth the money, time, energy, and effort to get the classrooms connected to the Internet. Eighty-nine (89) of the teachers said they were very excited about the possibilities the Internet offers students and teachers. Only three of the teachers have had negative experience on the Internet, compared with eighty-seven (87) who have had a very positive Internet experience so far.

What relationships exist between age, subject, years of experience, or degree as they relate to Internet usage?

There were no great differences between male and female as far as Internet usage in the classroom or in using the Internet as a tool on a daily basis.

Forty-nine (49) out of sixty-one (61), or eighty percent (80%), females and twenty-eight (28) out of thirty-five (35), or eighty percent (80%), males used the Internet in their classes. However, forty-two (42%) of the women who used the Internet in class used it more than once a week, compared with only twenty-eight (28%) of the males.

Table 19

By age breakdown of Internet usage

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________

The highest percentage of Internet usage (See Table 19) was from the age group (40-50) with eighty-two percent (82%). The other three age groups were within a few percentage points of each other (73%, 76%, 78%). The (30-40) and (40-50) age group had the highest percentage, eighty-eight percent (88%), of use of the Internet as tool throughout the day. The (20-30) age group was most likely, eighty-seven percent (87%), to use the Internet to help them learn about their subject area. The least likely to do so was the over-fifty (50+) age group, with fifty percent (50%).

Table 20

By degree breakdown of Internet usage

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________

The Ph.D./Ed.D. degree holders (See Table 20) had one hundred percent (100%) usage percentage for using the Internet as tool throughout the day. The BA/BS and M.A./M.Ed both had seventy-nine percent (79%) and seventy-four percent (74%), respectively. Ninety percent (90%) of the M.A./M.Ed. degree holders used the Internet in class as opposed to eighty-three percent (83%) of the BA/BS and only a third as high, thirty-three percent (33%) for Ph.D/Ed.D. Ph.D./Ed.D. degree holders had the highest percentage of using the Internet to learn about their subject area, with M.A./M.Ed. and BA/BS with seventy-four percent (74%) and sixty-two percent (62%) respectively.

Table 21

By subject breakdown of Internet usage

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________

The core subjects (math, science, history, language, and English) had a much larger sample population resulting simply from a higher number of faculty in those positions at schools (See Table 21). The differences between the percentages were not so great, indicating that all the major subjects use the Internet as a daily tool in class relatively equally. Math had the highest percentage of Internet use in class with ninety-four percent (94%), with history at about ninety percent (90%). The percentages in all subject area dropped in the next category (using the Internet to learn about the subject area). The highest was geography and language (one hundred percent (100%) and ninety percent (90%)), with the other subjects in the seventy percent (70%) to eighty percent (80%) range.

Tables 22 - 25 use the following questions from the survey instrument (See Appendix B)

#9a Do you use the Internet in your classroom?

Possible responses:

1 more than once a week

2 once a week

3 once every 2 or 3 weeks

4 once a month

5 once a semester

6 once a year

7 never, but WANT TO

8 never have, never will

#10b Should Internet skills be included in the set of basic skills (math, science,

English, etc.) that we teach students?

#11 Do you use the Internet to learn more about your subject area?

#12 Are your classes(or certain sections) better because of the Internet?

#13a Are the measurable improvements in student performance using Internet based

lessons?

#14a Are the non-measurable improvements in student performance using

Internet based lessons?

_______________________________________________

Table 22

Multiple-survey-answer array by SEX

____________________________________________________________________________________

#9a (See above for question and possible responses)

Response Male Female

1 8 21

2 5 4

3 4 6

4 5 8

5 4 4

6 0 1

7 6 7

no 3 6

#10b (See above for complete question)

Response Male Female

Yes 30 49

No 8 9

__ __

38 58

#11 (See above for complete question)

Response Male Female

Yes 32 51

No 7 11

__ __

39 62

#12 (See above for complete question)

Response Male Female

Yes 24 36

No 11 17

__ __

35 53

#13a (See above for complete question)

Response Male Female

Yes 13 23

No 14 14

__ __

27 37

#14a (See above for complete question)

Response Male Female

Yes 21 37

No 4 4

__ __

25 41

_______________________________________________

All results compared by gender (See Table 22) were relatively equal. Question 13a, concerning whether or nor the students had improved (measurably), was the only one where there was a significant difference with difference between the 'yes' and 'no' answers for female responses when the male response for that question has the 'yes' and 'no' about equal.
______________________________________________

Table 23

Multiple-survey-answer array by AGE

__________________________________________________________________________________

#9a (See above for question and possible responses)

Response 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+

1 6 2 10 10

2 3 1 3 2

3 4 4 3

4 3 4 5 2

5 3 2 4

6 2 1

7 5 1 3 4

no 2 2 1 4

#10b (See above for complete question)

Response 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+

Yes 16 14 28 24

No 6 3 5 2

__ __ __ __

22 17 33 26

#11 (See above for complete question)

Response 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+

Yes 20 16 28 20

No 3 2 6 7

__ __ __ __

24 18 34 27

#12 (See above for complete question)

Response 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+

Yes 12 10 21 16

No 6 4 8 10

__ __ __ __

18 14 29 26

#13a (See above for complete question)

Response 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+

Yes 6 6 15 9

No 7 4 7 10

__ __ __ __

13 10 22 19

#14a (See above for complete question)

Response 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+

Yes 15 9 20 16

No 2 1 2 3

__ __ __ __

17 10 22 19

_______________________________________________

Teachers over forty (40-50, 50+) were much more likely to use the Internet at least once a week (See Table 23). All other question showed no major variations among the ages.

_______________________________________________

Table 24

Multiple-survey-answer array by Degree

________________________________________________________________________

#9a (See above for question and possible responses)

Response BA/BS M.A./M.Ed. Ph.D./Ed.D.

1 13 14 2

2 3 6

3 1 9 1

4 6 7 1

5 4 3

6 1

7 7 4

none 3 4 1

#11 (See above for complete question)

Response BA/BS M.A./M.Ed. Ph.D./Ed.D.

Yes 33 42 45

No 7 8 1

__ __ __

22 17 33

#13a (See above for complete question)

Response BA/BS M.A./M.Ed. Ph.D./Ed.D.

Yes 14 20 2

No 13 13 1

__ __ __

27 33 3

_______________________________________________

One of the most noticeable items was the low number of responses by Ph.D./Ed.D. degree holders (See Table 24) . Because of that low number, it is not possible to compare Ph.D./Ed.D. to either of the other two degree. There were no significant differences between the BA/BS and M.A./M.Ed. degree holders.
__________________________________________

Table 25

Multiple-survey-answer array by Years of Experience

____________________________________________________________________________

#9a

Response 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+

1 7 5 4 12

2 4 2 3

3 1 1 4 6

4 3 3 2 6

5 4 3

6 1

7 4 5 4

none 3 2 4

#10b (See above for complete question)

Response 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+

Yes 17 12 12 31

No 4 2 5 5

__ __ __ __

21 14 17 36

#11 (See above for complete question)

Response 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+

Yes 18 13 16 29

No 4 1 4 7

__ __ __ __

22 14 20 36

#12 (See above for complete question)

Response 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+

Yes 17 11 8 22

No 3 7 4 12

__ __ __ __

20 18 12 34

#13a (See above for complete question)

Response 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+

Yes 6 8 5 16

No 5 7 3 11

__ __ __ __

11 15 8 27

#14a (See above for complete question)

Response 0-5 5-10 10-15 15+

Yes 14 12 8 23

No 0 3 0 4

__ __ __ __

14 15 8 27

_______________________________________________

There were more responses by teachers with over fifteen (15) years experience. These same teachers were more likely to use the Internet in class at least once a week (See Table 25). They were extremely supportive of teaching Internet skills to students. The less experienced teachers (0-5 years) were much more likely to see their classes as better because of the Internet than the other groups. The other questions showed no major differences based on years of experience.