CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH

The review of the literature will begin with a discussion of the World-Wide Web and its defining characteristics, including its application in an educational context. Following will be a review of relevant theories with particular emphasis on the development of uses and gratifications theory. Consideration will be given to the appropriateness of uses and gratifications theory and its relevance to this new interactive medium. Adolescent media use will be briefly discussed in order to better understand this important audience. And finally, a pilot study conducted in the spring and summer of 1998 will be reviewed.

Defining Characteristics of the WWW

Chesebro and Bertelsen (1996) identified six "intrinsic features of mediated communication" (p. 53). The second of these, that "mediated communication calls attention to the technologies that determine, in part, the meanings attributed to the content of media messages" (p. 53), suggests that the technologies used to convey mediated messages alter the message in some way. If so, it is important that researchers consider the technological characteristics of the WWW and the potential impact they may have on the messages delivered via this medium.

The WWW is arguably the first interactive, multi-sensory, mass medium. Combining text, graphics, sound, animation, and video, in nonlinear fashion, the Web achieves what no other media alone has done. Newhagen and Rafaeli (1996) called it the net’s "sensory appeal" (p. 5). The cognitive experience of reading text, viewing pictures and graphics, and watching moving images (video), at a pace determined by the user, is unique to this medium. According to Newhagen and Rafaeli, the five defining characteristics of the Internet are: multimedia, hypertextuality, packet switching, synchronicity, and interactivity. These technologically-defined characteristics deserve careful consideration in light of the potential effect that they can have on the messages transmitted via the WWW and on the experience of using the WWW.

Multimedia

Multimedia is the combination of various modes of communication, e.g., text, graphics, audio, and video. Typically this combining of media elements is enabled by computer hardware and software that controls the display of each element in combination with the others. The allure of multimedia is the multi-sensory experience for the user and the power afforded by using each media modality to its greatest advantage to communicate most effectively.

Hypertextuality

Hypertextuality is the foundational construct on which the WWW is built. Hypertext, an idea first described by Vaneever Bush in a 1945 Atlantic Monthly article describing his Memex device, is the association of two or more nodes of textual information and the linking mechanism that allows the user to "jump" nearly instantaneously from one to the other. A hyperlink is the computer code that contains the information and instructions associating two nodes. While hypertext is the creation of a link using a word or words for each node, hypermedia allows media other than text to serve as the nodes.

While much of the content of the WWW continues to resemble print text, the addition of hypertext technology adds a new dimension which reconfigures traditional print structures. Ong (1982) examined print technologies and their effect on communication processes and found the printed word to be linear, authoritative, and fixed—so fixed in fact that printed falsehoods exist for as long as the text exists. Ong proceeded to declare that computer writing was a return to preliterate orality, what he termed "secondary orality" (p. 136). George Landow (1992) applied Derrida’s notion of de-centering and Barthes’ idea of "readerly" and "writerly" texts to the intertextual domain of hypertext. Hypertext allows texts to become nonlinear and randomly accessible. The reader becomes author as he or she reorders the text from the raw material provided.

Hypertext and hypermedia allow the author to link from within a text or document to any other document available on the network. And since that document may contain numerous links to still more documents, the reader can quickly move from one author to another, and still yet another, without regard for the fact that the authorial voice has changed. This serves to reduce the relationship between the author and the text and creates a sense that the reader is merely retrieving information from a database rather than "reading" a text. Writing as a form of communication assumes that the message is related to the author. The dissolution of author from text, or text from itself, raises interesting and disturbing issues for electronic publishing and researching using computer networks.

Packet Switching

Packet switching is the process by which digital data are broken into discreet packets each containing header and footer information. This meta-information allows the data to be reassembled upon reaching its destination—even if the various packets took many different routes in traveling from source to destination. This is another characteristic that sets Internet-based communication apart from other media. This robust system design has important implications for Internet-delivered communication—perhaps most significant being that there is no responsible authority and no gatekeepers. Once information is digitized, encryption technologies can be employed to provide security for sensitive material. And because the Internet is a global network, regulations in one country may be circumvented by routing information through friendlier territories. Like satellite television broadcasts, transmissions over the Internet are difficult to regulate and frequently compromise the sovereignty of nation states. The Internet has been described as an experiment in anarchy—as the popular expression suggests, "The Net treats censorship as damage and routes around it." The obvious implication is that communication over the Internet is difficult to regulate, is resistant to censorship, and is therefore freer and less inhibited.

Evidence of this can be found by examining recent attempts to regulate the Internet—most of which have met with stiff opposition. The Communications Decency Act (CDA), the part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that addressed the content of the Internet, was subsequently challenged in court. In June of 1996, a three-judge court in Philadelphia granted a temporary restraining order that prevented the Justice Department from enforcing the CDA’s ban on indecent and "patently offensive" speech. The ruling was appealed to the US Supreme Court which found the CDA unconstitutional in June of 1997. Another attempt to regulate the content of the WWW, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), has also faced opposition. The bill (H.R. 3783) was passed by Congress in October of 1998. In February of 1999 Judge Lowell A. Reed of the Federal Court in Philadelphia issued a ruling blocking the government from enforcing COPA. An appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States Supreme Court is expected. The most recent attempts to introduce legislation are tied to the federal funding for universal service, i.e., the E-rate program. H.R. 368, The Safe Schools Internet Act of 1999, and H.R. 896/S. 97, The Children’s Internet Protection Act, prohibit E-rate funding for computers and Internet access for schools and libraries that fail to filter or block obscene material or child pornography and may allow filtering of material deemed to be "inappropriate to minors." More successful attempts to regulate the Internet have focused on privacy rather than content. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (S. 2326) was included in the same spending bill as the COPA and has not been challenged in court.

Synchronicity

Communication over the Internet and WWW can be either synchronous (in real time) or asynchronous (not in real time) depending on what mode is most appropriate to a particular application. For instance, one of the most useful features of email is the asynchronous nature of the communication that it affords. Similar to the advantages provided by having an answering machine on a telephone, email can be received and replied to at the convenience of the recipient. On the other hand, the synchronous nature of Internet relay chat (IRC) allows mediated interpersonal communication to approach the level of interactivity previously found only in telephone conversations.

Interactivity

Interactivity has been an important component in communication theories and models and has largely been identified as the feedback loop from receiver to sender. While nearly all communication systems and models suggest a role for interactivity, some feature the feedback loop in ways that are more pronounced. The study of cybernetics, from the Greek "to steer," as proposed by Wiener (1950) was based on the notion of a feedback loop that provided constant information that allowed the message or action to be continuously adjusted to achieve the desired goal. The prefix "cyber" has now come to be associated with a plethora of Internet technologies and services. In fact, cyberspace is frequently used to define the non-space in which Internet communication takes place.

Interactivity via the WWW may be defined in various ways, e.g., by the ability of the receiver to respond to the content, to the computer software, or to another person connected to the same computer network. Interactivity has been defined by Steuer (1992) as "the extent to which users can participate in modifying the form and content of a mediated environment in real time" (p. 84). Real-time interactivity via the WWW is possible using a variety of software programs and protocols, e.g., chat. Asynchronous interactivity is facilitated by the use of email, listservs, and discussion groups. All of these examples assume two, or more, human beings interacting via computer network technology. A different kind of interactivity is the kind that is programmed into a software application by the program’s authors. When a person interacts with the software program, the person is really interacting with the choices that the programmers designed into the program. Obviously this type of interactivity is a step removed from the former examples. By its very nature, interactive software will present a limited and fixed number of possible interactions from which to choose. The user is presented with a carefully disguised multiple choice scenario. The larger and more complex the program, the greater the number of choices and the more "natural" the perception of human interaction.

Interactivity, in the context of interactive multimedia, is the functionality afforded by a system that responds to the user. Choices made by the user determine the "system’s" response to the input and the next bit of information presented for consideration. With regard to interactivity, the WWW scores near the top in each of the six dimensions of interactivity as outlined by Heeter (1989): 1) complexity of choice available, 2) effort users must exert, 3) responsiveness to the user, 4) monitoring information use, 5) ease of adding information, and 6) facilitation of interpersonal communication. Although predominantly a publishing medium, the WWW does facilitate interaction between users via chat and email functions, and publishing itself can be viewed as an interactive communicative process.

The WWW: Mass or Interpersonal Medium?

One difficulty in studying the WWW is the multifaceted nature of the medium. On one end of the interpersonal/mass dimension students may use the email, chat, or personal publishing features available on the WWW to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. On the other hand students may be active consumers of content created and presented by large, multinational media corporations. Mass media have traditionally been defined as those that use some technological device to reach a large, heterogeneous audience (DeFleur & Dennis, 1996). But how does one define "large"? Or to use another concept familiar to new media researchers, how does one define "critical mass" for mass media (Markus, 1987)?

While some have resisted classifying the Internet and WWW as "mass" media, e.g., Newhagen (1997), others, e.g., Morris & Ogan (1996), have pointed to the convergence of technologies and the resulting fragmentation of traditional mass media and the growth of new media. Recent trends toward demassification of the market and niché marketing of communication channels have resulted in the erosion of audience for any single communication channel. Toffler’s (1980) prediction of consumer-as-producer of mediated content is becoming a reality on the WWW. While the traditional mass media emphasized the role of the individual as a member of the mass society, new media such as the WWW focus on the individual as a member of his or her community (Littlejohn, 1996, pp. 332-333).

According to DeFleur and Dennis (1996) mass communication "is a process in which professional communicators design and use media to disseminate messages widely, rapidly, and continuously in order to arouse intended meanings in large, diverse, and selectively attending audiences in attempts to influence them in a variety of ways" (p. 28). Using this definition the WWW would qualify in some instances, e.g., the MTV or New York Times sites, but not others, e.g., personal home pages or highly interactive content.

At the same time that the traditional mass media have been experiencing market share erosion, the Internet, electronic mail (email), and the WWW have seen tremendous growth. There has been upwards of 5% growth per month of the Internet for the past several years. The total number of WWW pages at the end of 1997 was estimated to be 320 million (Lawrence & Giles, 1998, p. 100). Lawrence and Giles recently updated their estimate to 800 million publicly indexable WWW pages (Lawrence & Giles, 1999). This finding appears to support earlier projections, based on historic growth rates, that the total number of Web pages will reach 1 billion by the year 2000 (Kelly & Wolf, 1997, p. 13). According to Farrell (1999) the 1.5 million visitors to the Victoria’s Secret WWW site following the Super Bowl spot rivaled "such news events as the release of President Clinton’s videotaped appearance before the grand jury and Sen. John Glenn’s blastoff into space last October." Farrell continued by stating that the audience for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show "approached network prime-time proportions" (p. 7B).

Newhagen and Rafaeli (1996) raised some very interesting issues pertinent to this discussion. They pointed out that the Internet, and the WWW, is quickly growing to become an important new medium—one that has begun, and will continue, to displace traditional media. A study by Find/SVP, reported by Corcoran (1997), estimated that more than 31 million Americans age 18 or older "regularly use the Internet or commercial online services." According to Corcoran (1997), "Sixteen percent of Internet users say they spend less time with magazines, newspapers and other personal computer applications" (p. C10). Kaye (1998) reported that more than a quarter of college students say they use the traditional media less since discovering the WWW. Owners of traditional mass media such as newspapers (e.g., the Washington Post and New York Times), and television (e.g., MSNBC and CNN), have launched elaborate and sophisticated WWW sites in an effort to capture a share of this new audience—an audience that frequently reports WWW usage at the expense of traditional mass media.

Reardon and Rogers (1988) claimed that the interactive nature of the new media makes it difficult to categorize them as "either interpersonal or mass media channels" (p. 297). A web site may be designed for a mass audience and receive thousands of "hits" a day. But it may also facilitate personal electronic mail between users, or between the "author" and the "reader." As Morris and Ogan (1996) pointed out, "its [the Internet’s] varied forms show the connection between interpersonal and mass communication that has been an object of study since the two-step flow associated the two." Horton and Wohl’s (1956) "para-social interaction" is based on this notion that mediated relationships (even mass-mediated) can appear to resemble interpersonal relationships. Walther (1992, 1996) explored the nature of interpersonal relationships within a computer-mediated environment and concluded that interpersonal relationships were not only possible in this environment, but that they could, on occasion, surpass the richness of non-mediated relationships. Walther’s concept of "hyperpersonal" communication describes the potential for an increase in both the quantity and quality of interpersonal communications over computer networks (1996).

In short, computer-mediated-communication can be at once both a mass and interpersonal mediated experience. Regardless of whether new media researchers modify the meaning of traditional terms or adopt new terms, recognizing that the Internet and the WWW can reach potentially large audiences with manufactured messages allows for the drawing of parallels with the traditional mass media, both print and broadcast. It should be remembered that this is a global phenomenon reaching nearly the entire industrialized world and much of the developing world. So while the WWW clearly allows for interpersonal communication between individuals, the potential also exists for manufactured messages to be directed to large heterogeneous audiences by way of the technology of networked computer technology. One such audience is comprised of school-aged children in an increasing number of wired schools in every state.

The WWW as Educational Medium

The widespread adoption of computers, the Internet, and the WWW by educational institutions is evidence of the prevailing assumption that these tools enable teaching and learning. Some of the unique features that set the WWW apart from other educational media include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) it enables both interpersonal and mass communication, 2) it is interactive, 3) it is personal, and 4) its content is virtually unregulated.

The use of the WWW in the classroom is only the latest in a long history of mass media technologies that have been adopted by the educational establishment. Educational films, radio and television programs, and educational computer software have all been employed with similar hope and optimism (Cuban, 1986; Cuban, 1996). Advocates for computers and online services such as the WWW point to the role of online computers in reforming an educational process that sorely needs reform (Kerr, 1989; Berge, 1998; Means, 1994). Proponents point to the interactive and collaborative nature of online learning and the international reach of this global resource. One study exploring the relationship between interactive hypermedia and student learning styles of middle school students (Schlosser, 1997) encouraged future examination of the WWW in a similar context.

However, studies to support or refute these claims are in short supply. One such study, The Role of Online Communications in Schools: A National Study, was conducted by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST, 1996). Approximately 500 fourth and sixth grade students in 28 elementary and middle school classes in seven large urban districts were compared. The population was divided into two groups, control and experimental, with the experimental groups being given access to online resources, activities and communication. After the two-month unit study was completed, final projects from each group were scored by external evaluators and compared. In all nine "learning measures" categories the experimental group projects scored higher than the control group.

Recently, however, the press and popular authors have expressed growing skepticism over the effectiveness and appropriateness of computers and other educational technology (Postman, 1995; Stoll, 1995; Bronner, 1997; Mendels, 1998, September 16; Oppenheimer, 1997; Schwartz, 1998; Slonaker, 1998, Healy, 1998). The debate has ranged from the very general and philosophical in nature to the more concrete issues that address practical concerns. Questions have been raised on several fronts, for example: could the money be better spent elsewhere, can computers substitute for personal interaction, and does turning instruction into a game miss the point that learning requires discipline? Focus group research conducted with teachers, reported in the New York Times (Mendels, 1998, March 15), found that nearly half use the Internet themselves, but 60% were "fairly concerned" or "very concerned" about student use. Teachers expressed concern in several areas: "that information available on the World Wide Web is of uneven quality; that the unscrupulous could prey on children; that there is a glut of online information and that navigating the Web can be cumbersome and time-consuming" (n.p.).

Another critical issue is whether teachers and students have the necessary training and skills to use the resource effectively. Lyons, Hoffman, Krajcik, and Soloway (1997) studied sixth and ninth grade students’ use of the WWW in a science classroom and found that students were often unsuccessful in finding relevant information. They concluded that "students need quite a bit of support in their work online" (p. 23).

One group of educators greatly interested in the trends in student use of the WWW is librarians. Lubans (1998) stated, "a motivating influence in [my] research has been the quantifiable and observable drop in reference desk interactions between librarians and students" since they began charting the activity in 1991 (n.p.). Lubans used focus group and survey techniques to study the academic use of the Internet by 226 seventh through tenth grade students who were taking summer courses on the campus of Duke University. His findings included information that suggested that these younger students are using the WWW for a greater percentage of their research than college freshmen. These students also had a positive view of the benefits provided by the WWW giving the Internet high marks for "accuracy, timeliness, and authoritativeness" (n.p.).

The Content of the WWW

While researchers examining the defining characteristics of the WWW often focus on its technological functionality, another defining characteristic of the WWW may be understood by examining its content. Despite the fact that the WWW has already earned a well-deserved reputation for enormous diversity, this new medium may also be perceived by users as being especially well-suited to a particular type of content. This perception by the general public has been referred to as a medium’s "normative image" (Perse & Courtright, 1993; Lichtenstein & Rosenfeld, 1984) or what Dorr and Kunkel (1990) referred to as a medium’s "signature content." According to Dorr and Kunkel, American’s perception of broadcast television is that it is an entertainment medium. They also contend that a quick look at the prevailing software for video games suggests a medium directed much more towards boys than girls. Others have explored the history of media models (Mander, 1984) and metaphors (Gozzi, 1994) and their role in shaping popular perceptions and public policy for new media. Regardless of whether one accepts the deterministic notion that embedded biases resident in a medium’s technological structure dictate the prevailing program format and content, the fact remains that content and media are often closely linked in the public’s mind.

A recent study that addressed the content of the WWW yielded results that may be cause for concern among educators and parents who are interested in the WWW’s educational potential. A content analysis of a "representative random sample of 1,140 WWW sites" revealed that much of the information available on the WWW falls into either the Public Relations (21.93%) or Advertising (20.70%) categories (Aikat, 1995, p. 119).

The educational media literature has frequently featured a debate between those who have emphasized medium and those who have emphasized content. In the latter camp would be Clark (1983) who revitalized the debate when he wrote:

The best current evidence is that media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition. Basically, the choice of vehicle might influence the cost or extent of distributing instruction, but only the content of the vehicle can influence achievement. (p. 445)

Paisley (1985) concurred when he wrote, "The major effects of interactive media on children’s learning are probably determined by the content of the systems—their substantive programs and databases" (p. 28). Assuming this is the case, the content of the WWW is a very important issue for those who are interested in using it as an educational resource.

Whatever else one may say about the WWW, one thing is certain—the WWW is enormous. The size and scope of this global information resource is far beyond any previous communication medium or repository of information, and it is growing larger every day. Anyone who has conducted a search using one of the many search engines can attest to the proverbial "needle in a haystack" feeling that the immensity of the WWW creates. Because the content of the Web is unfiltered and unprocessed, those searching for specific information or content have several choices. They may either: 1) search manually, 2) search with the aid of searching software, or 3) choose to rely on the expertise and judgment of others to assist them. Searching manually is increasingly out of the question as the size of the Internet continues to expand. For this reason software search "engines" have become popular, e.g., Google, AltaVista, InfoSeek, HotBot, and Lycos.

However, recent research has indicated that search engines are woefully inadequate to the task of finding specific information on the WWW. Lawrence and Giles (1999) found that of the WWW’s more than 800 million indexable pages, no single search engine indexed more than about 16% of the total number of pages available. Also, Lawrence and Giles found that search engines are more likely to return results from pages from sites in the com and org domains than from the edu domain (personal communication, September 23, 1999). Another problem confronting the WWW user who is seeking out specific information is the enormity of responses generated by most searches. The user can quickly become discouraged while sifting through much irrelevant and useless information. Unless trained in Boolean logic and effective computerized search techniques that take into account the nuances of language, WWW users with "instrumental" intentions may quickly become frustrated. This dissatisfaction has led to the second approach—an example of which is Yahoo, the leading WWW directory. Employees at Yahoo collect, sort, and even rank sites for appropriate content. The trade-off for greater relevancy is fewer sites, more dated material, and reliance on WWW site evaluation criteria that are unknown to the user.

Theoretical Foundations

Media effects research conducted on new media technologies sometimes makes use of existing theories, sometimes requires the modification of existing theories, and at other times requires the invention and application of new theories. New media theories, i.e., theories applicable to the "new media," are tested and tried and some mature along with the media for which they were developed. As Rice (1984) aptly noted, all media were new at one time, and all theories of media effects were new as well. Using empirical, critical, and hermeneutic approaches, researchers have attempted, with mixed results, to apply old theories of mass, group, and interpersonal communication to these new and different media.

Some media effects theories focus on the individual, while others explore organizational and institutional concerns. Similarly, some theories are most appropriately applied to analysis of message creators and distributors, while others focus on audiences. Still other theories highlight the content of the messages alone. December (1996) cited 23 separate studies of human communication via computer-mediated communication (CMC) only to arrive at the conclusion that, "integration of results, particularly at the theoretical level, is difficult" (p. 15).

According to McQuail (1987) the normative theory of new media is that of media technology determinism (p. 315), that is, the media technology shapes the mediated message. Media determinism assumes that media systems affect communication behavior and the resulting messages. This approach is not new nor unique to communication technologies. Deterministic theories and philosophies have survived over the centuries despite competing philosophies and theories of causality. One of the most famous media theorists to take a deterministic approach was Marshall McLuhan, whose saying, "the medium is the message" is nearly synonymous with this school of thought. McLuhan (1964) saw technology as an extension of human function. As such, electronic technology (e.g., the computer) is seen as an extension of the human nervous system. McLuhan scholar Derrick de Kerckhove (1991) included computer technology in his category "psychotechnology," that is, "any technical device which extends or emulates one human psychological feature or an other, or a group of them (p. 267). Kerckhove posited that the new communication technologies condition us to respond in specific ways. Citing artificial intelligence and interactivity as the defining features of the new computer media, Kerckhove argued that the very nature of the computer-mediated communication changes our perception of reality. Medium theorists such as Innis (1950), McLuhan (1964), and Meyrowitz (1985) have focused attention on the technology that enables communication. The emphasis on the technological dimension of new media is not surprising given the importance of the Shannon and Weaver model of information flow to early communication theories. In the Shannon and Weaver (1949) model, the "channel" of communication is an important component and one that is worthy of study.

Morris and Ogan (1996) outlined five theories applicable to the study of the Internet: critical mass, interactivity, uses and gratifications, social presence and media richness, and network approaches. Similarly, in a presentation to the 1996 Speech Communication Association meeting in San Diego, Grant (1996) suggested the following theories as useful for the study of new media—diffusion of innovations, critical mass, social information processing, and media dependency. Grant also called for new theories in the areas of interactivity, policy formation, diffusion processes and media effects. Theories of diffusion of innovations and critical mass, recommended by both scholars, focus on adoption patterns for, in this case, a new communication technology and how those patterns influence adoption and use by latecomers. The related theory of social information processing examines the combination of mass and interpersonal communication on the diffusion and adoption processes. Uses and gratifications, and the related theory of media dependency, examines the possible motives of a medium’s active participants. The aforementioned scholars acknowledge the importance of interactivity and the need to theorize how the interactive nature of the new media affects the behavior of participants and the nature of the communication process. Interpersonal theories of social presence and media richness explore the qualities of mediated interpersonal communication as compared to face-to-face interaction.

General system theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968) and its cognates cybernetics (Wiener, 1961) and information theory (Shannon & Weaver, 1949) are applicable to computer-mediate communication and the global network of computer networks we call the Internet. Visualizing the Internet and WWW as open systems that allow for a high level of interactivity and the creation, storage, and transmission of data allows researchers to draw from these theoretical foundations to create new models and applications. The discipline has come a great way since those early linear models and their simplistic depictions of what is now widely understood to be a very complex process.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory/Approach

According to Rice and Williams (1984), "the new media provide fertile test beds for many of our theories and models" (p. 55). One mass media theory that has repeatedly been cited as one that holds promise for the analysis of new media is uses and gratifications. In addition to the article by Rice and Williams, recent articles by Williams, Strover and Grant (1994), Newhagen and Rafaeli (1996), Morris and Ogan (1996), and December (1996) have also included references to the suitability of uses and gratifications for new media research. As an "active audience" theory, uses and gratifications provides a vantage point from which to look at the ways that audiences respond to the breadth and depth of information that is made available by these new media. A key assumption of uses and gratifications theory is that media effects are mediated by the intent or motivation of the user (Katz, Gurevitch, & Haas, 1973). The uses and gratifications perspective posits that consumers of media actively attend to media for specific reasons and to satisfy specific needs. Using a systems perspective to, "examine the relationships between the media, individuals, and society" (Infante, Rancer, & Womack, 1993, p. 405), advocates of the theory seek to get beyond the "what" and "why" of media use to discover the "consequences" of individual media use.

Springing up in the early 1940s (with a revival of sorts in the 1960s and 1970s) the uses and gratifications approach was conceived in response to the disappointment of finding only "limited effects" in media effects research (Blumler, 1979). Unlike the societal theories that emphasized the power of the media over the masses, uses and gratifications research sought to recognize the important role the individual brought to the use of the mass media. "It is the program that asks the question, not ‘What do the media do to people?,’ but ‘What do people do with the media?’" (Katz, 1959, p. 2, emphasis in the original). In contrast to this antithetical conceptualization of the effects and uses and gratifications traditions, Windahl (1981) proposed a merging of the two approaches and an examination of media "consequences" and media "effects"—the combination of which he called "conseffects" (p. 180).

Reviews of the uses and gratifications tradition can be found in various edited books and articles (Blumler & Katz, 1974; McLeod & Becker, 1981; Palmgreen, Wenner &Rosengren, 1985; Swanson, 1992; and Rubin, 1994). Most defer to the outline of the uses and gratifications approach given by Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch (1974) as:

(1) the social and psychological origins of (2) needs, which generate (3) expectations of (4) the mass media or other sources, which lead to (5) differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in (6) need gratifications and (7) other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones. (p. 20)

This now classic description of the uses and gratifications paradigm shows significant development from its origin in functionalism and begins to address the capacity of uses and gratifications to mediate effects. A refinement of the uses and gratifications approach is premised on the observation that audiences attend to media for specific reasons or Gratifications Sought (GS), (and may choose to attend to one medium over another), in order to gratify certain needs or desires. The results of this active participation with the media is described as Gratifications Obtained (GO) which may or may not be what was anticipated by the audience member or the content producer (Palmgreen, 1984; Wenner, 1986).

Criticism of the Uses and Gratifications Approach

Uses and gratifications research has been criticized for lacking theory (see, e.g., Elliott, 1974; Swanson, 1977). Some of the criticism has been addressed by Palmgreen’s (1984) essay in which he presented an integrated summary of its theoretical structure. The incorporation of expectancy-value theory and the distinction drawn between gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO) in the early 1980s helped to strengthen the theoretical foundations of uses and gratifications research.

Another criticism, according to Littlejohn (1996), is that, "Individuals are believed to control their media-consuming behavior according to conscious goals. No attention is paid to the ways media may be consumed mindlessly or ritualistically" (p. 353). McQuail (cited in Windahl, 1981) argued similarly that, "The approach assumes that media behavior is based on conscious or rational choice, which goes against research results saying that media use is habitual and nonselective" (p. 175). Massey (1995) furthermore argued that "people do not necessarily have to be active in order to interact with media" (p. 346). However, the interactive nature of the WWW accessed via a personal computer in a school setting would suggest that active, individualistic use of media is exactly the sort of use that is anticipated by this researcher.

Audience Activity

Palmgreen (1984) wrote that the idea of an active audience is, "one of the essential theoretical underpinnings of the [uses and gratifications] approach" (p. 40) and Rubin (1994) called audience activity, "the core concept in uses and gratifications" (p. 426). Levy and Windahl’s (1984) typology of audience activity established a rationale for a nine-fold typology of audience activity based on two dimensions: the qualitative orientation of audiences, and; before, during, and after exposure to the media.

Webster and Wakshlag (1983) described audience activity as it relates to television program choice as a two-step process of "viewer availability" and "program options" (p. 434-437). According to their model of program choice a consumer chooses to use the medium and then makes another choice to select a program from what is available at that time. But unlike Webster and Wakshlag’s model that assumes "fixed" program options, interactive media content is flexible and negotiated by the consumer. To a much greater extent than is true for traditional media, interactive media are constantly presenting the participant with choices to be made and new content to be either consumed or discarded. Unlike the producers of traditional mass media such as print, radio, and television, interactive media producers assume that the participant will be actively engaged with the content and the medium. This notion of audience engagement and attention has also been a focus of research. Kubey and Larson’s (1990) study, which employed the Experience Sampling Method, of media use by children and adolescents reported higher levels of both arousal and attention for video game playing than for other new media and traditional media (pp. 121-122). Swift (1989) explored the relationship between audience activity and computer-mediated communication by looking at the FreeNet community bulletin board, a precursor to the WWW.

Others have examined the process of program selection using a remote control device (RCD) in an expanding media environment that has offered ever-increasing opportunities for choice. Walker, Bellamy, and Traudt (1993) found the uses and gratifications approach to be well-suited to the study of RCD use and found seven gratifications linked to RCD use. Heeter’s (1985) research exploring program choice among cable television users found that younger adults and males were more active in the program selection process. And Perse (1990) found support for the notion that channel-changing is indicative of ritualistic viewing motivations on the part of the viewer and lower levels of attention and elaboration (p. 691).

As an active audience theory, uses and gratifications is especially appropriate to interactive media because of the assumption that interactive media make about audience activity. Heeter (1989) described "complexity of choice available" as the first of six "dimensions of interactivity" (p. 221). Audience activity is especially pertinent to the study of computer-mediated communication via the Internet or WWW. Use of the WWW requires a continuous process of choosing from a myriad of available options. Audience activity prior to and during WWW access may be understood by the initial choice to access the WWW, the myriad of choices based on which sites to visit and which links to follow, and the various types of activities available at the various sites, e.g., reading, filling out forms, chatting, downloading sounds and video clips, and playing Java-enabled games. Activity is not only an integral part of the process of using the WWW, but is part of the process of interacting with the content and making meaning. According to Dorr and Kunkel (1990),

In the main, using the computer requires more initiative and interaction on the part of the user and provides more responsivity to the user’s actions. The computer more often becomes whatever the user makes of it than whatever the software creator or hardware developer made for it. (p. 10, emphasis in the original)

While other mass media often treat the receiver as a passive viewer/listener, surfing the WWW requires active involvement on the part of the user. The WWW is experienced by users who actively "browse" or "surf" the Web seeking out specific content. Unlike television where passive viewers sometimes use the medium as background "wallpaper" tuned to the "least-objectionable program," the WWW encourages users to approach the medium with a purpose. Rubin (1984; 1993) described these two different orientations to media as "ritualized" and "instrumental" with ritualized use being motivated by habit or to pass time while instrumental use implies selective viewing with a clearly defined purpose.

Expectancy-Value Theory

Another attempt to strengthen the theoretical foundation of uses and gratifications has called upon the expectancy-value theory most fully articulated by Fishbein and Ajzen (1975). According to Rosengren (1985), the merging of expectancy-value with uses and gratifications theory is a most promising development in this field (p. 278). Expectancy-value theory operates on the assumption that both the perceived probability of experiencing the desired consequence and the perceived value of the consequence determine a person’s behavior. Various uses and gratifications studies have employed expectancy-value theory, e.g., Palmgreen and Rayburn (1982), Palmgreen (1984), Babrow and Swanson (1988), and Babrow (1989). Palmgreen and Rayburn (1982) summarized the various expectancy-value theories as those that,

view behavior, behavioral intentions, or attitudes (or all three) as a function of (1) expectancy (or belief)—that is, the probability that an attitude object possesses a particular attribute or that a behavior will have a particular consequence—and (2) evaluation—that is, the degree of affect, positive or negative, toward an attribute or behavioral outcome. (pp. 562-563, emphasis in the original)

Expectancy-value theory thus applied to communication theory suggests that consumers approach specific media seeking valued consequences associated with that specific medium. Choice of a particular medium also takes into account functional equivalents or alternatives. For example, the WWW in an educational setting may be viewed by students as a functional alternative to library books, newspapers, or even locally available experts. Or it may be that the WWW may be viewed in certain instances as the only readily available source for a particular type of information or service. It may also be possible that even in a school setting the WWW is perceived to be a source of entertainment and a vehicle for escape from the tedium of school work or a means to avoid school work. Salomon (1983, 1984) explored the relationship between media use by children and perceived mental effort. He found that "TV is more often perceived to be intended to entertain and to serve escapist functions, whereas print is perceived to inform and educate" (1984, p. 650). If this is indeed the case, student perceptions regarding the WWW as being either more like television or more like print could be a factor influencing what function or role it will serve for them. Indeed Salomon found in his study comparing TV and print, "that when given essentially comparable material through two media and in the absence of clear instructions, perceptions of the media and of one’s own efficacy with them are related to the investment of processing effort, which in turn is related to inferential learning" (p. 656).

According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) belief is understood as originating in one of three ways: 1) descriptive, 2) inferential, and 3) informational. In this case student beliefs about the WWW may be the result of: direct observation (descriptive), logic or personal theories (inferential), or, accepting the opinion expressed by authorities or significant others (informational). This last source of influence is anticipated to be especially influential for students who are using the WWW and responding to the survey in the school setting. The "normative image" (Perse & Courtright, 1993) of the WWW is likely to have been shaped by those who introduced them to the WWW. What their teachers have told them about the WWW and, more importantly, what they have been told about appropriate use of the WWW at school will likely be a significant factor in influencing their beliefs about the WWW.

Media Use Typologies

Uses and gratifications scholars have devoted a substantial body of research to the task of categorizing potential uses of media. Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas (1973) identified 14 needs clustered in five categories: cognitive needs, affective needs, personal integrative needs, social integrative needs, and escapist needs. McGuire (1974) suggested that use of the mass media might be understood using a matrix of 16 general human motivations. Greenberg (1974), in what is now considered a classic research model in which free-response essays were used to construct questionnaires, applied factor analysis to construct a set of six "firm" reasons that British children expressed for watching television: learning, habit, arousal, companionship, relaxation, and to forget. Rubin (1981a) used cluster analysis to identify nine motivations for viewing television: pass time/habit, companionship, arousal, program content, relaxation, information, escape, entertainment, and social interaction.

Table 2.1

Selected Uses and Gratifications Studies

 

Several researchers have attempted to discover similarities and differences among the various motivations. Chesebro and Bertelsen (1996) summarized that uses and gratifications research to date has suggested:

that people use the media for one or more of four basic reasons: (1) escapism—to avoid ongoing reality systems; (2) reality exploration—to secure basic information and to understand the world in which they exist; (3) character reference—to find suitable models for their own lives; and (4) incidental learning—a kind of miscellaneous category in which it is recognized that each individual may use or be gratified by media for very different, personal, and unique reasons. (p. 35, emphasis in the original)

Blumler’s (1979) attempt to ground media orientations in theory found support for three orientations: cognitive, diversion, and personal identity. These constructs reappeared in the results of a factor analysis by Babrow and Swanson (1988) and were identified as information-seeking, entertainment-seeking, and para-social interaction-seeking—results that replicated the findings of Palmgreen, Wenner, and Rayburn (1980). Swanson (1992) noted the emergence of "a fundamental distinction" in Cutler and Danowski’s (1980) "content and process," McQuail’s (1984) "cognitive and cultural" and Rubin’s (1984) "instrumental and ritual" gratifications (p. 310). Swanson concluded that these findings taken together reveal a distinction between, "gratifications that result from the pleasurable experience of media content and are realized during consumption (process, cultural, or ritual gratifications) and gratifications that result from learning information from media content and subsequently putting it to use in practical affairs (content, cognitive, or instrumental gratifications)" (p. 310). This dichotomy is very similar to the results of Dobos and Dimmick’s (1988) critical analysis of factor analytic methods. After analyzing the methodology employed in several uses and gratifications studies they concluded that media uses might best be understood by dividing them into two categories, cognitive and affective, which had been proposed earlier by McQuail (1984). Atkin (1985) found in the terms "uses and gratifications" a distinction between the two concepts with uses being more of a cognitive construct that addressed "anticipated postexposure application of the mediated experience" and gratifications being a "transitory" affective experience "providing momentary satisfaction at an intrinsic level" (p. 63). Yet another study attempted to align the traditional television-viewing motives "along two distinctive axes, which reflect (a) inadequacies in the viewer’s social environment and (b) a generally unconscious psychological need to regulate physiological arousal" (Finn & Gorr, 1988, p. 139). The resulting motivation categories were labeled "social compensation," which was comprised of companionship, pass time, habit and escape motivations, and "mood management," comprised of relaxation, entertainment, arousal and information motivations. Social compensation expanded on the research of Rubin (1983) and Blumler (1979) and used Blumler’s terminology. The second motive, mood management, focused on arousal and the media’s role in fulfilling the individual’s need to achieve an ideal level of arousal (Finn & Gorr, p. 140).

Although the relatively short history of uses and gratifications research is dominated by studies which have explored the traditional mass media, it should be noted that many of these studies were conducted when these media were still in their infancy. Today’s traditional media were yesterday’s new media. Palmgreen (1984), in a call to adapt uses and gratifications research to the new communication technologies, wrote, "researchers should not be wedded to gratification typologies that the very changes under study may have rendered incomplete, if not obsolete" (p. 49). Williams, Strover, and Grant (1994), writing about new media technologies, suggested "four major gratifications": "Entertainment, personal relationships (companionship), personal identity, and surveillance" (pp. 464-465, emphasis in the original). However, uses and gratifications studies of new media must be careful to consider new gratifications that have no historical precedent. Increased choices and greater control over the use of media are gratifications that frequently are associated with new media. Also at issue is whether traditional functional models of mass media usage are appropriate to the task of evaluating potential uses of this new interactive medium. For example, the traditional "pass time" or "escape" constructs may be less useful in a medium that requires constant response and interactivity on the part of the user. Also, the social utility dimension of mass media that plays such an important part in adolescent social behavior may be redefined by: 1) the individualistic experience made possible by the highly interactive experiences of the WWW, and 2) the possibilities afforded by online communities.

Few studies have taken a uses and gratifications approach to study the Internet and even fewer have narrowed their focus to look at the WWW (e.g., Charney, 1996; Stetter, 1997; Yoo, 1996, and Kaye, 1998). December (1996) identified "communication, interaction, and information" as the three broad categories for why people use the Internet. Charney (1996) concluded from a study of university students that the Internet is used "to keep informed, for entertainment and diversion, to maintain communication, and to look at the sights and sounds of the ‘Net" (p. 88), but most frequently for entertainment-diversion (p. 90). In a pilot study conducted by Hyunoh Yoo (1996) the author found six gratifications dimensions relating to use of the Internet: "Entertainment, Information, Sociability-building, Sociability-maintaining, Transaction-general, and Transaction-task" (n.p.). Of these, entertainment, information, transaction-general, and sociability-building were related to WWW usage. Hunter (n.d.), writing about uses and gratifications of the WWW, cited three gratifications: browsing, information seeking, and entertainment. A 1995 study of college students’ WWW usage resulted in "six motivational categories: entertainment, social interaction, pass time, escape, information, and Web site preference" (Kaye, 1998, p. 34). According to the 9th WWW User Survey conducted by Georgia Tech (GVU’s 9th WWW user survey, 1998), the WWW’s youngest users (11-20) use the web mainly for "entertainment" (81%), "education" (70%), "time wasting" (67%), and "personal information" (60%). Shoemaker (1997) surveyed Michigan school teachers and administrators and found that the three leading uses of the Internet in middle schools and high schools reporting Internet use were: information access/research, exploration/reading, and communication. However, it is important to consider that Shoemaker surveyed school teachers and administrators—not students. In a 1998 telephone survey of approximately 400 K-12 public school teachers conducted by Quality Education Data, research was the most commonly reported use of the WWW. Forty-nine percent of teachers surveyed reported that their students use the Internet at least once a week for the purpose of research (Mendels, 1998, April 28). Once again it is important to note that this question was directed at teachers and was inquiring about student activity.

Swanson’s (1992) "pleasurable experience" versus "learning information" dichotomy may provide a useful frame by which to view students’ use of the WWW in an educational context. Another useful dichotomy may be found in Rubin’s (1984, 1994) "ritual" versus "instrumental" orientations. According to Rubin (1994),

Ritualized media use is using a medium more habitually to consume time and for diversion. It relates to greater exposure to and affinity with the medium. Ritualized use suggests utility but an otherwise less active or less goal-directed state. Instrumental media use is seeking certain media content for informational reasons. It relates to greater exposure to news and informational content and perceiving that content to be realistic. Instrumental use is active and purposive. It suggests utility, intention, selectivity, and involvement. (p. 427)

Although Rubin developed these dimensions in studies focusing on the use of television, they hold potential for understanding users of the WWW. While "ritual" use of the WWW might be understood as those users who casually browse the Web looking for something to catch their interest, a more "instrumental" approach might be taken by those users who approach the Web looking for a specific bit of information.

Others have suggested that the ability to interact with content satisfies other desires (Newhagen & Rafaeli, 1996; Rafaeli, 1988; Walker & Bellamy, 1991). Surfing the net, like channel surfing on the television, may satisfy the desire to see "what else is on." The phrase "surfing the Web" suggests a recreational gratification, and may even bring to mind the image of an irresponsible young male. In fact the dynamic growth of the WWW may be responsible for the popularity of "surfing" as a means of surveying the available resources. Because no indexing service can keep up with the rapid growth of the WWW, surfing has and will continue to provide diversionary gratification for those with exploratory urges.

Newhagen and Rafaeli (1996) have suggested that uses and gratifications theory may be especially useful because of the "mutability" of the Web, or what Newhagen calls its "chameleon-like character" (p. 11). The diversity of modes of communication afforded by this new medium raises some interesting issues. For example, traditional mass media have been viewed as a source of para-social interaction for consumers (Horton & Wohl, 1956) but this new medium facilitates true (albeit mediated) social interaction between participants via email, chat and other forms of instant messaging, and even Internet telephony.

Likewise, the diversity of content is much greater for the WWW than for traditional electronic media. While television, radio, and to a lesser degree print media are subject to regulatory and societal scrutiny, the WWW is virtually unregulated. Because of this, the WWW literally has something for everybody. The fact that this range of material is available at school, library, workplace, and home, would suggest that potential uses for the Internet may exceed those provided by other media.

Context and Media Use

It is impossible to discuss media use without considering the context in which mediated content is consumed. In a study of high school students’ use of television and music, Larson and Kubey (1985) found that television use usually took place in a common room in the home and often with family members present. In contrast, music listening was most often carried out while the student was alone and in a private space such as his or her bedroom. While parents or other authority figures may intervene or mediate in adolescent use of television (Atkin, Greenberg, & Baldwin, 1991), restricting access to inappropriate content becomes problematic when the use takes place in private. In fact, Atkin, Greenberg, and Baldwin concluded that children having their own television sets is an important predictor of their viewing of R-rated movies. A factor of WWW use is the personal nature of the experience. Personal computers are so called because they are typically used by a single user at a time.

The social setting, proximity to other consumers, and institutional norms must all be considered when discussing educational media use. According to Salomon (1978), "the concept of media as part of a wider cultural domains, such as language, schooling, and culture’s symbol systems, suggests that like other cultural forces, media operate in interaction with learners" (p. 43). Student use of the WWW in a school setting, even in times of non-directed use, is likely to differ from use at home or at a friend’s home. For one thing, the Acceptable Use Policy that was signed by each student stated that use of the WWW at school is for educational purposes. It is believed that teachers, librarians, and other adults reinforce this policy on a regular basis. In fact, the state, school districts, and individual schools have technology policies of their own that outline the purpose for technology in the schools and its acceptable use. Dexter (1998) outlined a recommended "Uses, then Technology" approach for the integration of technology into the curriculum. Here the focus is on the district’s, administration’s, teachers’, and instructional technology specialists’ "uses" for the WWW and on their vision for how it can and should be used in the schools. It is anticipated that these values and assumptions will be explicitly and implicitly communicated to students and will infuse the very structure of the technology infrastructure. Student use of the WWW at school will be affected by the uses envisioned by those in positions of authority.

This study of student use of the WWW is narrowly constrained by focusing on use that takes place in public school media centers. While not a part of this study, beliefs and expectations of teachers, administrators, and staff, as well as other students, would most likely be an important intervening variable for student attitudes and behavior.

Adolescent Media Use

Research into media use by adolescents has emphasized the unique behavior of this group, particularly the transitional nature of their media use and their preoccupation with social interaction (Avery, 1978; Faber, Brown, & McLeod, 1979; Rosengren & Windahl, 1989; Dorr & Kunkel, 1990; Arnett, 1995; Christenson, DeBenedittis & Lindlof, 1985). The fact that adolescent children are themselves going through many changes makes them especially well-suited subjects for study. Faber, Brown, and McLeod (1979) summarized three reasons for why the life-stage defined by adolescence is of special interest to researchers: 1) adolescents face certain developmental tasks such as choosing a career, "developing a sex-role identity, and achieving independence from the family," 2) "adolescence is a period of increased activity oriented toward gathering information about the future," and 3) "adolescents are generally in the final stage of cognitive development" (p. 218).

Television-viewing by adolescents has received a great deal of attention (see, e.g., Murray, 1980). According to a study conducted in late 1970s, adolescent children viewed an average of 147 minutes per day, 65% of which was done in the presence of another family member (Lawrence, Tasker, Daly, Orhiel, & Wozniak, 1986). Liebert and Sprafkin (1988) summarized 20 years of studies to report that children’s television viewing increases to approximately four hours per day in early adolescence, and then begins to drop as the child approaches the late teen years when the average viewing time is two to three hours per day.

Adolescence is also the time when children display a sharp increase in their use of music and a more moderate increase in print media (Avery, 1978). Until recently, the number of channels of television available to the average adolescent was limited to the major television networks that could be received via terrestrial broadcast. Music and print media resources available to teens have typically offered a much broader range of content than television, although this is changing with the recent and rapid growth of cable and satellite television and the myriad of channels that are now offered. If in fact adolescents seek out media messages that offer increasing levels of autonomy from the adult world (Larson & Kubey, 1985), increased levels of choice offered by the newer television technologies and the nearly infinite array of choice offered by the WWW may shift adolescent media use patterns in these directions. Research conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (1999) found that by early adolescence kids say that their peers find out "a lot" about issues like sex, drugs, and violence from: friends (64%), TV and the movies (61%), school (44%), the Internet (40%), and Mom (38%). And more and more children are using the Internet and WWW each year. According to Jupiter Communications, a market research firm, nearly 10 million American adolescents use the Internet (Harmon, 1999, May 3).

Uses and gratifications studies that have explored adolescent media use (e.g., Greenberg, 1974; Lometti, Reeves & Bybee, 1977; Avery, 1978; Rubin, 1979; Selnow, 1984; Cohen, Levy & Golden, 1988; and Lin, 1993b), have found a variety of motivations for attending to a variety of media. Greenberg’s (1974) study of British school children ranging in age from 9 to 15 resulted in the following television-viewing gratifications: learning, habit, arousal, companionship, relax, to forget, and, pass time. Lometti, Reeves, and Bybee’s (1977) analysis of "a number of interpersonal and mass communication channels…revealed three interpretable dimensions: surveillance/entertainment, affective guidance, and behavioral guidance" (p. 334). Avery (1978) reported that adolescents use television for "escape, relaxation, entertainment, and relief from loneliness" (p. 6). Rubin’s (1977; 1979) research conducted with fourth through twelfth grade students resulted in six principal television-viewing motivations: learning, pass time/habit, companionship, forget, arousal, and relaxation (pp. 112-113). Selnow’s (1984) research on the possible gratifications from arcade video games experienced by 10- to 14-year-olds revealed five factors: video games over friends, learn about people, companionship, action, and solitude/escape (p. 23). Cohen, Levy, and Golden (1988) examined the ability of VCRs and six "old" media to satisfy a number of social and psychological needs for 576 Israeli children in grades four through ten. And Lin’s (1993b) study of seventh and tenth grade students resulted in the following gratifications received from television: "informational guidance, interpersonal communications parasocial interaction, entertainment, and diversion" (p. 233).

Arnett (1995) identified "five uses of the media by adolescents…entertainment, identity formation, high sensation, coping, and youth culture identification" (p. 520). With the exception of entertainment, Arnett argued that these uses are developmental, that is, "more important for adolescents than for children or adults" (p. 520). Each of these uses of the media are framed by Arnett as being part of adolescents’ socialization process. The media are just one part of the equation, with family, school, peers, and other social institutions playing a role as well.

Holmlov (1982), in a study of high school students’ use of print media, found that learning as an effect of reading was conditioned on the individual’s motive for reading. If this is indeed the case, it follows that student perceptions and usage patterns of an educational medium such as the WWW will mediate its potential effect on learning and achievement.

Pilot Study

In preparation for the current research project an unpublished pilot study was conducted during spring of 1998. In the study, open-ended questions, questionnaires, interviews, and passive data collection were used to gather preliminary data. The sample for this study consisted of middle school and high school students from a public school district in the state of Colorado. In all, 78 students responded to open-ended questions regarding the WWW, 228 students completed a short survey instrument of 4 items, 42 students completed a longer survey instrument of 37 items, and 6 students provided interviews. Of the 228 students who completed the short survey, 46% (n = 104) were female. The students were from the 6th grade (2%), 7th grade (13%), 8th grade (35%), 9th grade (13%), 10th grade (12%), 11th grade (9%), and 12th grade (15%). Of the 42 students who completed the long survey, 49% (n = 20) were male. These students were from the 6th grade (2%), 7th grade (39%), 8th grade (37%), 9th grade (5%), 10th grade (5%), and 12th grade (12%). Of the students who completed the long survey, 19 (45%) expressed willingness to provide an interview. These students were presented with a parental consent form (see Appendix B) that was to be signed by a parent or guardian and returned to school. Of those who were given the parental consent form, 6 students returned the form with parent consent provided. These students were interviewed in the schools’ media centers for approximately 20 minutes, and the interviews were recorded. In addition to reviewing the questions asked by the long survey, the interview provided an opportunity to ask additional questions as directed by the student’s responses during the course of the interview.

The pilot study was undertaken with several goals in mind. One goal was to collect preliminary data that would be used to construct the survey instruments. Another goal was to test the reliability and validity of the survey instruments. And finally, the pilot study allowed the researcher to explore possible relationships between variables that traditionally had been applied only to traditional, one-way, non-interactive media. With this in mind, several research questions were considered: what attitudes do students hold about the WWW in an educational context?, to what use do they put the WWW and what needs are believed to be gratified?, and using Rubin’s (1984) distinction of "ritual" and "instrumental" use of the media and Swanson’s (1992) "pleasurable experience" versus "learning information," to what extent does student use of the WWW fall into either category? Also, what types of sites are being visited during times of non-directed access to the WWW and what is the educational value of the sites visited? And finally, how closely will records of actual sites visited correlate with reported use of the WWW by students?

Between April 17 and May 14 of 1998, 228 middle and high school students voluntarily completed a short computer-administered survey. In response to the question about the amount of time the student spends using the WWW, 23% (n = 52) responded "not much," 49% (n = 112) responded "average," and 28% (n = 64) responded "a lot." Response to the short survey’s multiple-choice question, "what is your purpose for using the WWW at this time?" yielded the following results: "research" (n = 81, 39%), "looking for something interesting" (n = 64, 31%), "chat/email" (n = 42, 20%), "games" (n = 15, 7%), and "news" (n = 6, 3%). In addition to the choices presented, the student had the option to choose "other" and to submit a use category of his or her choosing.

During the same time, 42 students proceeded to complete the long computer-administered survey. Reported use of the WWW ranged from less than one hour to 10 or more, with five hours per week being the most common response (n = 11, 27%). Only three of the 42 respondents reported having a personal web page (all three were male). As reported by the respondents, 55% reported having "good" computer skills (n = 23), with the next most common response being "excellent" (n = 13, 31%). Similarly over 90% reported their success at finding information on the WWW as either "somewhat" (n = 21) or "very" successful (n = 17). When asked "what percentage of the WWW is useful?" over half of the respondents indicated between 75-100%. A similar question asking "what percentage of the WWW is fun?" yielded an even more positive response with over 67% of the responses falling into the 75-100% range.

Because of the paucity of research in uses and gratifications of the relatively new WWW exploratory factor analysis (SPSS Principal Components Analysis with Varimax rotation) was used to determine the leading gratifications sought when using the WWW. The result was six scales with eigenvalues above 1.0 accounting for a total of 76% of the total variance. Factor loadings for factor one suggested the WWW to be a quick and easy source of information (alpha = .87). Factor two loaded on surveillance (alpha = .85). Factor three suggested a pass-time or recreational use of the WWW (alpha = .78). The fourth factor highlights a social orientation and the communication features of the WWW (alpha = .69). The fifth factor is the opposite of the fourth, and suggests an anti-social tendency (alpha = .55). And finally, the sixth factor, with only one item, was defined by ease of access. Alpha reliability coefficients were computed for the new factors to determine if any items had a negative effect on the overall reliability score.

Table 2.2

Rotated Factor Matrix of Gratifications Sought

NOTE: With only two items each for factors 4 and 5, and one item for factor 6, the stability of these factors is questionable. Future research using similar items should consider the addition of items to support these constructs and/or eliminate singular items.

A content analysis of the sites visited by students during the time that the survey was in effect allowed for a comparison of reported usage with actual usage. This information was compared to the students’ reported uses of the WWW to reveal not only how students use the WWW, but also how they perceive their use of the WWW.

At the beginning of the data collection phase, the cache files on the computers in the schools’ open labs were cleared. At the end of the collection period the cache files were copied to a disk and the data prepared for analysis. A total of 47,477 URLs were collected from the 31 Macintosh™ and Windows™ personal computers on which the survey instrument had been installed. First, the number of occurrences of web sites from the five commonly accessed domains (edu, com, gov, net, and org) were computed. Of the total URLs collected, 88% (n = 36,986) were from the .com domain, 6% (n = 2,500) were from .net, 3% (n = 1,116) were from .edu, 3% (n = 1,103) were from .org, and 1% (n = 230) were from .gov. These numbers stand in contrast to the distribution of domain names that makes up the current state of the WWW. According to the survey of WWW domain names by host count conducted by Network Wizards in early 1999 commercial sites constitute the largest single domain on the WWW. However the overall picture is not as heavily skewed towards the commercial sites as the student sample would suggest. In other words, students represented by the pilot study sample were visiting commercial WWW sites with greater frequency than can be explained by their number in relation to the other leading domains.

Analysis comparing domain name and educational value indicated low ratings for .com and .net, with higher values for .org and .gov (see Table 2.3). In fact, the most frequently visited sites had the lowest educational value and the least frequently visited sites had the highest educational value, as determined by the evaluation of the professional educators who served as coders.

Table 2.3

Educational Value Ratings of Sites with Leading Domain Names

Domain Name (n) Mean educational value Most frequently
as assigned by coders assigned use category
(1=least, 5=most)

.com	(153)	1.78	Looking	(62%)
.net	(10)	2.30	Looking	(70%)
.edu	(13)	2.46	Research	(69%)
.org	(10)	3.30	Research	(60%)
.gov	(5)	3.40	Research	(100%)
other	(9)	2.56	Research	(56%)

Summary

This review of previous research and other related literature began with a look at the technological characteristics of the medium known as the World-Wide Web. The defining characteristics of the WWW—multimedia, hypertextuality, packet switching, synchronicity, and interactivity—were reviewed in order to better understand how these characteristics affect the "signature content" of the WWW and the user’s experience when accessing that content. Unlike any other single medium, the WWW is a curious blend of technologies that enable both interpersonal and mass communications.

In an educational context, the WWW is only the latest in a long history of attempts to harness the power of mediated communication for the purpose of enhancing, even revolutionizing, the educational enterprise. The widespread adoption of this new medium and the dearth of empirical studies suggests a need for more research. Concerns about WWW use in schools abounds. In addition to a perceived lack of teacher training, content issues have been raised such as: the difficulty of finding appropriate information, the veracity of information found, and the pervasiveness of advertising and other inappropriate content.

A leading theory for understanding new media technologies is uses and gratifications. As an active audience theory, uses and gratifications is premised on the assumption that media effects are mediated by the intent or motivation of the user. Focusing on what consumers do with the media, uses and gratifications is especially appropriate when looking at the interactive nature of the WWW use. The inclusion of expectancy-value theory allows the researcher to explore the user’s expectation of receiving a valued benefit from media use. The choice of medium may take into account the functional equivalence afforded by this new medium when compared to more traditional educational media.

Following a summary of media use typologies was a review of attempts to group uses into dichotomous categories: e.g., Swanson’s (1992) "pleasurable experience" versus "learning information." Use categories for new media and the WWW were discussed in light of the ever-changing nature of the WWW experience. When considering the possible uses of the WWW by children in public schools two factors appear to be in opposition. The enormous diversity of content available via this personal medium is constrained by the expectations of school teachers and administrators who have a much more narrowly defined expectation for acceptable use by students. Because the participants in this study are adolescent children, literature pertinent to adolescent media use was reviewed.

And finally, a pilot study following a methodology similar to the current study was described. The pilot study suggested that "research" was the leading reason provided by students for using the WWW, followed closely by "looking for something interesting." However, a content analysis of actual sites visited suggested that most of the sites visited scored low on a scale of potential educational value and were more likely to be used by students "looking for something interesting" as judged by the professional educators who served as coders.

In the following section the methodology for the present study will be explained. Included will be a discussion of the population sampled, the construction of the survey instruments, the use of traditional and computer-administered survey instruments, the use of passive data collection to determine actual sites visited by students, and content analysis of these sites to determine their potential value for educational research.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | References | Appendix