| The purpose of this descriptive/correlational study was to evaluate instructional technology availability and use in secondary agricultural education curricula in North Carolina and Virginia. The population for this study consisted of secondary agriculture teachers in North Carolina and Virginia that were listed in the 1998--99 North Carolina Agricultural Education Director (N = 370) and Virginia Vocational Agriculture Teacher's Association Directory (N = 313). Based on Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) formula for a 5% margin of error, a random sample of 242 would be required for a population of this size. The researcher based on the objectives of the study developed a survey instrument. The survey instrument was pilot tested with 40 Iowa agriculture teachers. The test-retest procedure and Cronbach's alpha were utilized to test the instrument reliability, which resulted in adequate reliability. The final mailing of the survey instrument consisted of 210 North Carolina secondary agriculture teachers and 170 Virginia agriculture teachers. After several follow-up mailings 195 surveys were received. Nonresponse error was tested with the "Double-Dip" procedure, only one significant difference was found.;North Carolina and Virginia agriculture teachers utilized desktop computers, compact disk, laser printers, Internet, email, videotape, and television between 1--30 minutes per day for instructional purposes. Agriculture teachers also had adequate access to the aforementioned technologies. Agriculture teachers placed a high priority on computer applications such as the Internet, reference software, databases, spreadsheets, word processing, and content area tutorials/drill and practice software for daily instructional activities.;The associations between program/demographic variables and variables related to agriculture teacher's utilization and access to instructional technology were negligible to low. Agriculture teachers were also largely neutral as to their perceptions regarding instructional technology's future in agriculture education. The benefits of instructional technology were found to be an increase in the availability of educational opportunities, improved informational resources for faculty and students, more effective instructional materials, and more convenient delivery methods for instructors. The barriers to instructional technology centered on money for equipment, lack of technical support, lack of appropriate facilities, and lack of time to learn and implement the new immerging technologies in secondary agricultural education settings. |
