JSET ejournal
2002 in Review: A Synthesis of the Special Education Technology Literature
Dave L. Edyburn
University of WisconsinMilwaukee
Scholars and practitioners struggle with the concomitant problems
of too much information, inadequate tools for managing information
overload, and too little time for professional development. Individually
and collectively, these problems serve to undermine current awareness
of the professional knowledge base.
Goldsmith, Govindavajan, Kaye, & Vicere (2003) report that
Americans are flooded on a daily basis with 2,000 - 3,000 messages
in the forms such as advertisements, mail, phone calls, email,
faxes, voice mail, and encounters in stores, that try to influence
us. Large (1984) estimates that more than 1,000 books are published
internationally everyday. Swanson (1998) cites the observation
that if the most conscientious physician were to read two articles
a day in an attempt to keep up with the literature, in one year,
this individual would be more than 800 years behind. Wissick
(1999) observes that teachers who use the Web to look for information
to use in their lessons can easily receive several million hits
in response to their search term. Obviously, contemporary society
suffers from too much information.
Despite the availability of the World Wide Web and other innovations
like document delivery, a problem related to too much information,
centers on the lack of powerful tools for managing the glut of
information. Perhaps the most often quoted summary of this state
of affairs is provided by Vannevar Bush:
The summation of human experience is being expended at a prodigious rate, and the means we use for threading through the consequent maze to the momentarily important item is the same as was used in the days of square-rigged ships. (Bush, 1945, p. 102).
Finally, there is the problem of too little time. Too little
time to locate and acquire potentially useful information. Too
little time to read and reflect. Too little time to synthesize
new knowledge into existing practices or engage in substantive
change. Several authors have commented on the tasks associated
with knowledge utilization and the personal time commitment that
is required (Swanson, 1998; Willinsky, 1999; Wurman, 1989).
Traditional Tools of Scholarship
One distinguishing characteristic of a scholar is the intimate
knowledge and understanding of the published literature in one's
discipline. This knowledge has been traditionally acquired through
reading and studying professional journals. In support of scholarship
in special education, various facets of professional journals
have been studied to gain insight about publishing opportunities
(Joyce & Joyce, 1990), characteristics of the literature
(Black, 1974; Summers, 1986; Torgeson & Dice, 1980; Vockell
& Asher, 1972), rankings of professional journals (Garrett
& McLoughlin, 1995, Swanson & Alford, 1987), quality
of published works (Garrett & McLoughlin, 1995), and the
impact of published works as represented through citation analysis
(Swanson & Alford, 1987; Vockel & Jacobson, 1983). Surprisingly,
while some attention has been devoted to the scholarly use of
the Web (Henry, 2002; Nachmias, & Gilad, 2002; Spinellis,
2003), generally little is known about how scholars and practitioners
rely on the Web as a source of information for current awareness
and professional decision-making.
Cooper and Hedges (1994) have noted that one tool, the literature
review, is especially prized by scholars and practitioners because
it serves a strategic function in managing information overload
and facilitating access to the extant knowledge base. Naturally,
this strategy has been utilized within the field of special education
technology and has resulted in a number of useful works: comprehensive
reviews of the literature (Edyburn 2002, 2001a, 2000, 1995; Okolo,
Bahr, & Rieth, 1993; Woodward & Rieth, 1997), and a comprehensive
bibliographic index (Haus & Rieth, 1989).
While the value of integrative literature reviews is unquestioned,
the fundamental approach is based on an in-depth review of a
specific topic across time. Indeed, a taxonomy of approaches
to research synthesis reflect this principle (Cooper & Hedges,
1994, p. 4). However, given the relative youth of the field of
special education technology, methods that involve multi-year
historical analysis fail to serve the information needs of a
profession during the formative period when the literature base
is being built.
Reflecting on the lack of tools for accessing the special education
technology knowledge base, I wondered why research synthesis
methodology could not be utilized in a different way. That is,
why not conduct a synthesis of the literature across a one-year
time period? The results of a comprehensive one-year review and
synthesis would yield a response to the question, "What
have we learned lately?" and provide researchers, scholars,
and educational leaders with a new tool for accessing the emerging
knowledge base. Such an approach appears to meet the basic definition
of a literature review constructed by Cooper and Hedges (1994,
p. 4):
Common to all definitions of literature reviews is the notion that they are "not based primarily on new facts and findings, but on publications containing such primary information, whereby the latter is digested, sifted, classified, simplified, and synthesized" (Manten, 1973, p. 75).
Thus, the major attribute of the comprehensive one-year research
synthesis approach is that it simultaneously addresses the problem
of information overload and provides a new tool for accessing
the knowledge base.
Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to investigate two research questions
regarding the extant knowledge base: How widely scattered is
the literature on special education technology? and What have
we learned lately?
