Characterizing information technology through faculty research

An area of very lively discussion in the technology education community is the role that academic research should play in our curriculum and our careers. In the emerging academic discipline of information technology, the controversy is enlarged by the newness of the field. That is, definitions of academic information technology research may vary greatly between practitioners. At a recent conference of information technology educators, a survey was taken to determine the attitudes of these professionals and their institutions towards academic information technology research. In addition, the survey queries the research topics that information technology departments consider to be central to their goals. This paper provides a foundation for further discussions about the role and directions of information technology research.