THE FUTURE ROLE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA

The purpose of this study was to assess teachersʹ perceptions regarding the future of instructional technology in secondary school agricultural education programs in North Carolina and Virginia. A stratified random sample was selected from the populations of agricultural education teachers in North Carolina and Virginia. Likert-type scales were used to measure the future role instructional technology will play in agricultural education programs, the potential benefits of instructional technology, and the potential barriers to the use of instructional technology. In general, teachers in both states were "undecided" about the future role of instructional technology in agricultural education programs. Accessing lesson plans via the Internet was the primary way teachers perceived themselves using instructional technology in the future. Teachers in both states perceived an array of benefits from future use of instructional technology in their programs, including teacher access to information resources as the primary benefit. To a large extent, teachers were undecided about barriers to future use of instructional technology in their programs. Teachers in both states identified the cost of equipment and the cost of software as the greatest barriers.