Dr. LeRoy J. Tuscher, Professor of Education, Committee Chairman
Dr. Robert L. Leight, Professor of Education, Committee Member
Dr. Mary Nicholas, Associate Professor of Modern Foreign Languages, Committee Member
Berry Richards, Director of University Libraries, Committee Member
The purpose of this study was to determine how networking technology was being utilized for education and research at Lehigh University as well as to determine user attitudes toward this technology. An analysis of an on-line survey found extensive utilization of networking technology.
A total of 44 hypotheses were tested within this study with 21 being accepted and 23 not being accepted. All hypotheses were tested for the lack of significant relationships between user classification and other variables. Differences were found among these groups pertaining to the perceived users of networking technology, the frequency of utilization of computers, workstations, Usenet News, Gopher and Mosaic, and the utilization of electronic mail. Differences were found in most areas regarding the utilization of library resources such as the on-line catalog, the CD-ROM local area network, and both on-campus and off-campus databases such as ERIC, CARL/Uncover, and WorldCat.
Through utilizing networking technology, the majority of respondents felt that they could constantly find new information and, by utilizing different search techniques, had much more information available to them. Over half of the respondents felt that through utilizing networking technology their abilities to distinguish the value of information and their skills in assembling information had increased.
As to how user attitudes affected their utilization of networking technology, most respondents enjoyed utilizing networking technology, had little anxiety toward utilizing networking technology, and were confident in their abilities to utilize networking technology. Faculty members had the lowest level of enjoyment and the lowest level of confidence in their abilities to utilize networking technology, but they also had the lowest level of utilization of this technology with most rarely using the technology for anything but work-related purposes.
Networking technology involves more than simply connecting computers together for data manipulation. Schamber (1988) described an information network as having the characteristics of widespread coverage, a wide variety of services, distributed control, security, multimedia capability, integrated software, adaptability and expandability, and reliability. However, as Redlawsk (1987) pointed out "at its simplest level, connectivity means access" (p.358). The typical user of networking technology simply wants easy access to computing and information resources. So, with networking technology including everything from local area networks (LAN's) and digital switches to backbone networks with high-speed data, audio, and video capabilities, how is this technology being used, and what are the implications of this technology for education and research in higher education?
The educational and research implications of networking technology may be dependent upon the variation of networking technology being implemented. These variations include local area networks (LAN's), campus-wide networks, and national or international networks.
While LAN's are almost always a part of the networking technology of any given institution, LAN's are often confined to a single room or group of rooms and used primarily for sharing software and printers. These LAN's are often interconnected to a campus-wide network of some sort which, in turn, is often connected to an external network. As for educational and research implications of LAN's, Thrush and Hardisty (1989) stated that computer networks may provide for interaction between a user and knowledge (information) contained on the network, between the user and other users, and, through word processing, between the user and the text.
Campus-wide networks are typically either backbone networks or digital switch-based networks (i.e., a digital phone system). Both of these types of networks share similar capabilities, but the backbone network is capable of much higher data transmission rates and can interconnect other networks, such as LAN's. The educational and research implications of this type of network are in the distributed accessibility of computing and information resources. The user can connect to the library computer and any number of academic computers, all from one access point (Redlawsk, 1987). Since 1986 Lehigh University has utilized a digital switch as part of its networking technology. Through the use of terminal servers, users of the digital switch can connect to Lehigh's backbone network. Most LAN's on Lehigh's campus are interconnected through the backbone network, and the backbone network is connected to the Internet.
Campus-wide networks, especially backbone networks, are often connected to external networks. These external networks may be national or even international in scope. Two of the larger of these networks are the Internet and BITNET (CREN). Dyrenfurth and Mihalevich (1986) described the capabilities of BITNET as including users sharing information via real-time terminal messages and electronic mail, transfer of documents and files, and access to data services.
The Internet is really a collection of interconnected TCP/IP-based (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) regional networks which provide not only the same basic services as BITNET, but also the ability to log in and utilize remote computing and information resources (assuming one has an account or permission to do so) at speeds far beyond that which is normally associated with BITNET. The educational and research implications of these external networks range from simply communicating electronically with a colleague at another location to having access to databases and information located elsewhere in the world.
Whether it be a group of students utilizing a LAN to work together on a class project, researchers collaborating at different institutions, or individuals accessing local or remote databases and information resources, the primary educational and research implications of networking technology relate to communications and the dissemination of knowledge.
Beckman (1989) stated that the first service offered on Brown University's campus-wide network BRUNET, was terminal to host connectivity. Redlawsk (1987) stated, "for most users access is simply being able to sign on to the library computer, or the main academic system, or their electronic mailbox..." (p.358). However, simple connectivity is just the beginning of the educational and research uses of networking technology. Beckman described how BRUNET allows access to all of the computing resources used by faculty, staff, and students, including local area networks, mainframes, and access to nation-wide and international networks via BITNET and the Internet.
Thrush and Hardisty (1989) described a system set up between two departments which utilized the campus-wide network at Georgia Institute of Technology. This system provides a location in which files may be placed, a news system which can display messages to users as they log in, access to electronic mail, and a bulletin board used by students for discussion of class topics.
Campus-wide information systems (CWIS) such as those in use at Lehigh University (Foley & Weiner, 1992) and Lafayette College (Ciriello, 1992) provide centralized networking services to their campuses (often from a series of networked computing systems which appear to the user as a single centralized system). These services include (but are not limited to) electronic mail, bulletin boards and conferences, on-line forms, on-line software libraries, access to other on-campus computing resources (such as the library system), and access to external resources found on the Internet and BITNET.
Perhaps the one area within any university in which the impact of networking technology will be felt the most is within the library. The field of library/information science is changing to the point where, according to Kountz (1992), "if a library means books, then being a librarian and operating any library other than a public library may be an endangered career" (p.39). According to Penniman (1992), "The real key for creating the library of the future rests with redefining its mission. This mission must go beyond document access; it must place the library in the midst of significant social and educational change" (p.24).
Just as networking technology is implemented at a number of different levels throughout colleges and universities, it is also implemented at a number of levels throughout libraries at colleges and universities. While CD-ROM databases have been in use for a number of years, it has only been within the last few years that the search software for these databases has been made compatible with the networking software for local area networks, and it is an even more recent occurrence that the CD-ROM software has been made compatible with the networking software prevalent for backbone networks. Therefore, many institutions still use stand-alone CD-ROM systems along with any access they may have to networked databases.
At Lehigh University, Richards and Johnson (1990) described the campus-wide network as providing access to an on-line catalog and other library databases, and providing access to all library services "from reference requests through photocopy requests, interlibrary loan, media, reserves, recalls, and recommendations for acquisitions" (p.5). Since that time, additional on-line services have been added including access to a number of locally-mounted databases as well as access to additional external services through the Internet. In addition, most of the CD-ROM databases which had only been available on a LAN within one of the library buildings, through the campus backbone network are now available for use at LAN sites throughout the campus.
Houweling (1983) described Carnegie-Mellon University's goals in creating a distributed computing environment as "... the basic mission of the university - the creation and dissemination of knowledge" (p.97). Houweling stated that the distributed system would increase "the effectiveness of students working on their own" (p.97).
Moeller (1992) described the educational goals of networking technology at Stevens Institute of Technology as that of enhancing the teaching and learning environment through the integration of networking technology with each of the undergraduate curricula. Moeller stated that networking technology prepared students for professional leadership roles upon leaving the university. Sharma and Gerberich (1992) from Marist College, and Jones (1992) from the Geauge Campus of Kent State University, described similar goals for networking technology.
Detweiler and Falduto (1992) described Drew University's focus on information technology in the context of supporting or enhancing the goals of liberal education. They stated that "a liberally educated person systematically, logically, and creatively accesses available information, develops understanding and insights, and communicates this knowledge to others" (p.44) and that information technology is a tool to "substantially enhance this thinking process" (p.44).
West (1983) described a similar focus on information technology for students at the California State University. West included developing "a higher degree of information-technology literacy among students" (p.280), improving "the problem-solving capabilities of students in a technological society" (p.280), facilitating "the teaching/learning process by using information technology as an aid" (p.280), and enhancing the "instructional research and scholarly efforts of the faculty" (p.280).
Thrush and Hardisty (1989) stated, "development of network use is in its infancy, but even now, it provides some opportunities for the teacher and the learner that are almost impossible to achieve otherwise" (p.4). While some institutions set educational goals for their implementations of networking technology, few have done studies to determine whether these objectives have been achieved. As Shields, Graves, and Nyce (1991) pointed out, the neglect of scholarly attention to the growth of computing on college and university campuses during the 1980's is "surprising in light of the profound social changes that computers are supposed to be producing in teaching, research, and administration" (p.183). They stated that "there are scarcely any studies of computing in higher education apart from the 20-year-old literature on instructional computing (computer-assisted instruction, intelligent tutoring systems, and artificial intelligence)" (p.183) and that, for the most part, "the significance of technological innovation in academia has generally been soft-pedaled relative to curricular innovations, educational outcomes assessment, student political movements and demographic composition, support for scientific research, and funding of higher education" (p.184).
While many institutions are just getting into networking technology or are relatively new to it, Lehigh University has been using a broad range of networking technology for over ten years. During that time, Lehigh's computing environment went from being primarily terminals connected to mainframes to a totally distributed environment of interconnected microcomputers and workstations. Most microcomputers in classrooms are interconnected through local area networks as are many microcomputers within campus offices and student residence halls. These LAN's are interconnected through a campus-wide backbone network which is connected to the Internet. This distributed environment provides a vast increase in computing power over that of a mainframe-based environment and additional computing power can be added to the overall environment by simply adding additional workstations.
All students, faculty, and staff at Lehigh have access to this environment starting with Lehigh's campus-wide information system. The Lehigh University Libraries have long been known as being in the forefront among libraries in providing electronic information services to their users. Through Lehigh's network environment, the vast majority of these services are distributed throughout the campus. This environment makes Lehigh University an ideal location in which to examine the implications of networking technology.
Millions of individuals already have access to varying levels of networking technology throughout the world. With the current emphasis on the development of the National Research and Education Network (NREN) and of the National Information Infrastructure (NII), this number will continue to grow with future connectivity reaching the level of individual homes. With the ever increasing prevalence of networking technology, how is this technology being utilized for purposes of education and research and what are the attitudes of users of this technology? This study investigated the following research questions:
1) What is the relationship between user classification and level of utilization of networking technology for educational and research purposes at Lehigh University?
2) What are the attitudes of users toward the utilization of networking technology for education and research at Lehigh University?
Specific hypotheses pertaining to these research questions were explored in this study.
The research question "What is the relationship between user classification and level of utilization of networking technology for educational and research purposes at Lehigh University?" was explored through the testing of a number of hypotheses. These hypotheses were tested for lack of significant relationships between user classification and other variables. These other variables were the utilization of on-campus computing resources, electronic mail, networked file sharing, archive servers, file servers (anonymous FTP), information systems (Lehigh's own as well as Gopher and the World-Wide Web through Mosaic), off-campus computing resources, off-campus discussion groups (Usenet News and BITNET LISTSERVs) and networked information resources such as on-campus and off-campus library catalogs and databases. For the purpose of this study, the term educational purposes referred to the manner in which knowledge is acquired through teaching. As stated by Denning (1993), "teaching is organized as a continuing presentation of facts, procedures, methods, and models" (p.22). For the purpose of this study, the term research referred to the process of generating new knowledge (Denning, 1993) within a networked environment. This study examined the implications of networking technology on the manner in which individuals acquired knowledge and generated new knowledge.
The research question "What are the attitudes of users toward the utilization of networking technology for education and research at Lehigh University?" was explored through the testing of a number of hypotheses. These hypotheses were tested for lack of significant differences among user classification groups regarding whether the utilization of networking technology affected the enjoyment of users in retrieving information, whether it increased the anxiety level of users with respect to information retrieval, and whether it increased the efficacy (confidence) of users with respect to their information retrieval skills.
1) The low percentage of returns on the questionnaire could possibly lead to invalid conclusions.
2) Educational implications could not be analyzed separately from research implications due to the single questionnaire design of the study.
Types of Networks
Local Area Network
Local area networks or LAN's consist of individual computers which are interconnected, typically via a printed circuit board plugged into each computer, and wiring connected to the circuit boards. As pointed out by Thrush and Hardisty (1989), an integral part of most LAN's is the LAN file server which is a computer dedicated to running the LAN and which contains all of the software for the computers on the LAN.
Digital Switch
For the purpose of this study, a digital switch is defined as a digital phone system which is capable of simultaneous voice and data communications. Redlawsk (1988) used the term data/voice private branch exchange (PBX) to refer to this type of system.
Backbone Network
For the purpose of this study, a backbone network is defined as a high-speed network which links other networks.
Campus-wide Network
For the purpose of this study, campus-wide networks are defined as either campus-wide LAN's, backbone networks, or digital switches (i.e., a digital phone system). Thrush and Hardisty (1989) defined this type of network as a Wide Area Network or WAN. However, since Beckman (1989) and others described BITNET and the Internet (described in this study as nation-wide and international networks) as wide area networks, in order to avoid confusion the term WAN was not used.
National and International Networks
BITNET (CREN)
BITNET is a network which links a few thousand computers nation-wide and is operated by the Corporation for Research and Educational Computing (CREN). CREN was created as the merger of two academic networks, BITNET and CSNET. Through gateways, BITNET has international capabilities.
The Internet
The Internet is an international collection of over 7,000 interconnected regional TCP/IP-based networks. The Internet is world-wide and has millions of computers connected to it.
Regional Network
A regional network spans some geographic area and connects institutional networks within that area. PREPnet, the Pennsylvania Research and Economic Partnership Network, is a state-wide TCP/IP-based regional network through which Lehigh University connects to the Internet. Other regional networks cited in this study include SSHEnet (which connects the 14 institutions within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and then connects to PREPnet), Westnet, OARnet, and JvNCNet.
NSFNET
The National Science Foundation Network, NSFNET, is a nationwide backbone network which links TCP/IP-based regional networks within the United States. NSFNET also has over 700 international links.
Other Networking Terms
Campus-wide Information System
For the purpose of this study, a campus-wide information system is defined as a computer system (or group of systems) which provides centralized services such as electronic mail, conferencing, bulletin boards, and other information services to the entire campus community.
Gateway
A gateway is a link between two networks which allows information to flow from one network to the other. As an example, a gateway between BITNET and the Internet allows users of one of these networks to send or receive electronic mail to or from users of the other network.
LISTSERV
A LISTSERV is an electronic conferencing system for a particular special interest group (SIG) or a particular topic. Of particular interest to educational technologists is the EDTECH LISTSERV which is available from Michigan State via BITNET.
Usenet News
Usenet News is a world-wide bulletin board system which contains over 3,000 discussion groups, each aimed at a particular topic. Anyone having a question about that particular topic can send the question to that group. Anyone who knows the answer can respond either to the group, or directly to the individual. A number of BITNET LISTSERVs are available through Usenet News.
The Network Server
The computer running the original campus-wide information system at Lehigh University acquired the nickname of the "Network Server." For the purpose of this study, the phrase "Network Server" is used to refer to the distributed environment of the current campus-wide information system at Lehigh.
Compute Servers
At Lehigh University, the distributed computers containing software for compute-intensive applications (i.e., statistical packages, finite element modeling packages, etc.).
AFS Workstations
At Lehigh University, individuals can access their computer files on any of the over 125 IBM RS/6000 workstations spread throughout the campus through a file system known as AFS.
TCP/IP
TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol are two networking protocols which work together to provide a means for data to be sent between computers on a network.
TELNET
TELNET is a TCP/IP-based program which allows users to log in to remote computers through other computers.
FTP
FTP, File Transfer Protocol, is a TCP/IP-based program for transferring files between computers.
Anonymous FTP
Many computer systems allow anyone with Internet access to connect to them through FTP and log in with a user name anonymous and a password guest. This allows access to site specific information and also public domain and shareware files and software.
Archive Server
An archive server is a system which contains organized lists of files available at anonymous FTP sites along with software which allows this information to be searched. The term ARCHIE is often used to refer to these systems since that is the name to which logins occur after a telnet connection has been established.
Gopher
Gopher refers to a communications protocol upon which a global distributed information system is being created. Instead of having all of the available information at each site, Gopher provides links to other Gopher systems which will provide the information as needed.
MosaicMosaic is a computer program which is referred to as an information browser. In addition to providing links to Gopher, anonymous ftp sites, archive servers, and other communications protocols, Mosaic also is an interface to World-Wide Web information. Mosaic is a graphical interface which allows access to images, motion video, and audio in addition to access to text-based information.
Terminal Server
A terminal server acts as an interface between relatively low-speed serial connections and high-speed networks.
World-Wide WebThe World-Wide Web is a communications protocol upon which a global distributed information system is being created. The World-Wide Web is hypertext-based and allows links to text, images, audio, and motion video, located anywhere in the world.