In a recent edition of Tech Trends, our companion publication of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, a series of articles about distance education in South Dakota was published (Volume 45, Number 3). The articles are an accounting of how distance education is being implemented in a statewide initiative.
In the fourth edition of his classic book, Diffusion of Innovations (1995), Everett Rogers discussed in great detail the process of how innovations are spread through a social system such as a state. The theoretical approach described by Rogers is, in many respects, a cookbook for effective change. He explains in easy-to-understand and well-documented terms how innovations succeed or fail. Unfortunately, Rogers’ entire process is rarely followed.
This is not the case in South Dakota. Events there have unfolded almost like a laboratory exercise for the successful implementation of an innovation. South Dakota has set out to infuse technologies for teaching and learning and distance education into all aspects of the state’s educational system. This is not to say that distance education and use of technology are new ideas in South Dakota. Just the opposite is true. The state’s educational community has long been heralded for its effective implementation of instructional technology tools and techniques. What is new is the systematic approach followed in recent years.
State leaders decided a few years ago to make a serious commitment to educational technology and distance education. They formed a vision, developed a plan, marshaled their forces, obtained external support, and demanded excellence of all involved. The result has been a unique blend of public and private support for educational change focused on increased use of instructional technology and distance education. The issue of Tech Trends describes events in South Dakota and serves as a model for other states and organizations that desire to effectively change the process of teaching and learning using technologies of instruction.
It is only rarely that an entire state unites behind an idea. In South Dakota, this appears to have happened. The serious, down-to-earth folks that inhabit one state of America’s heartland have not just recognized the need for change in education, but have established a process that will very likely bring success. South Dakota’s systematic approach is one to be followed by others. They have answers to questions that many others in instructional technology and distance education are asking. The May/June 2001 issue of Tech Trends presents many ideas from South Dakota that can be readily adopted by other states with similar visions. It should be required reading for educators interested in reaching the distant learner. We look forward to publishing more about South Dakota in future issues of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education.
Michael Simonson
