Date of Award

4-1988

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Leadership

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the needs of Ohio's educational administrators relative to the administrative and curricular uses of computer technology. It answers the following questions: (1) What are the felt needs of Ohio's educational administrators relative to the administrative and curricular uses of computer technology? (2) What are the felt needs of Ohio's NCATE-accredited faculty of educational administration relative to instruction in the areas of administrative and curricular uses of computer technology for educational administrators? (3) What are the anticipated needs of experts in computing relative to the administrative and curricular uses of computer technology? (4) What are the similarities and differences between and among the three groups' perceptions of felt and anticipated need that will affect an expressed need through the design of courses in the administrative and curricular uses of computer technology?

The expert perspective was provided by a study conducted in 1983 by Mims and Poirot. They validated a list of computer competencies for school administrators which served as the basis for the democratic needs assessment process in the present study. Administrators and higher education faculty members were asked to rate the importance of the competencies, as were the experts in computer science and educational administration of the Mims and Poirot study. The information gathered from the needs assessment can be used in the systematic design of instruction for administrators in the uses of computer technology.

As was expected, there was more similarity than difference in the perspectives of the three referent groups. The competencies were categorized to facilitate use and respondents indicated that competencies under the category of "Educational Computing" were more important than those in the category, "Programming."

Instructional planners are advised to follow the tenets of adult learning theory as well as a sound model for innovation and change in the planning and implementation process. The rank ordering of competency ratings by referent group which is provided in this study can serve as the basis for determining course content, so long as the discussion pertaining to respecting the value perspective of each particular audience is also considered.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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