Journal of Research on Technology in Education:
An Analysis of 5 Years of Publication

Jeffrey L. Jones
EDC 612, Spring 2004
Dr. Gary Anglin

Analysis Chart which accompanies this analysis (Excel spreadsheet)

The Journal

The Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE) covers technology integration in the K-12 classroom, plus an assortment of related educational technology issues including teacher education, professional development, and a smattering of non-university post-secondary school environments such as business schools. It welcomes articles with an international perspective, but the majority of its contributions come from the United States. Contributors are most likely university professors or students, but are often classroom teachers and other interested observers. JRTE is fully juried, and is published quarterly both in print and on line. It is the flagship research journal for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the technology integration professional organization responsible for the most recognized national technology content and competency standards for teachers, administrators, and K-12 students. ISTE is currently collaborating with the Kentucky Department of Education and the Educational Professional Standards Board for a full-scale adoption of the standards. Over the past five years, JRTE has gone through a radical change. In the fall of 2001 (beginning with Volume 34, number 1), the journal changed to its present name from "Journal of Research on Computing in Education." This change paralleled a historical expansion of the technology capabilities (both of type and of application) present, or potentially present, in the classroom, beyond the ordinary stand-alone microcomputer. In addition, there has been a general trend towards more research-based articles, and away from the "…assessments of the state of the art, and theoretical or conceptual positions that relate to educational computing."

Analysis

In all, I have included precisely five years of articles - from Volume 31, number 4 (Summer, 1999) to Volume 36, number 3 (Spring, 2004). Although some position pieces and simple examinations of emerging technologies still appear in JRTE (especially in the infrequent themed editions), I have included only those articles which have at least some original research and findings relating to the article's focus. The result is 147 articles. My analysis gives a reasonable snapshot of the total contents of the last five years, but I have not included trends and changes from the beginning to the end of the time span, which have been substantial. My current interests include research methodology, an article's grade level focus, and the technology studied. These serve as my selected categories of analysis. I have further expanded each category to include related interests, and these expansions are displayed as subcategories. I discuss individual categories and findings below, with charts of the analysis results included as appendices.

Subject of Study: This is, in general, what grade level or other grouping is the focus of the research. I have totaled for K-12, but also divided up this category on the basis of grade level: Primary (K-2), Intermediate (3-5), Middle (6-8) and High (9-12). If a study straddled two categories, I included it in the lower of the two. I have further subdivided it by the Unit of Analysis for the study, which is often different than the study's focus. In general, "Teacher" and "Student" refer to the role of the subject in the study. This means that, within the Inservice category, will be teachers whose role is as a student in the study setting. Most remarkable about this data is the relative sparse number of studies on K-12.

Methodology: Not surprisingly, most of the studies are quantitative in nature, with mixed methodology making up a very small percentage. Many of the quantitative studies were dancing on the edge of that methodology, with painfully small n's or only general measures of central tendency included. Only five studies specifically mentioned meta-analysis or literature review, though several studies not included were a survey of past discussions. The subcategories in this area reveal a lot of descriptive and affective foci. Performance refers specifically to the performance of study participants - if an approach or tool was being evaluated for effectiveness, it appears in the "Effective" subcategory.

Technology: The "General" category includes any study or research that did not have a specific technology focus. Many of the studies were aimed at general classroom integration, or student/teacher interest in technology use. If the study was primarily focused on computers in the classroom without any specific computer-delivered tool, then they were placed in the "Computer" category. "DL" and "E-communications" could be included in Web, but are separated out as separate categories. "Instructional Software" includes any multimedia application used to support instruction and requiring a computer, though the line between the various categories here continues to blur. The subcategories simply give a general indication of the intended use of the technology.