Abstract

As schools all over the world struggle to gain access to the Internet, many opportunities arise for sharing information that prevents every school from recreating the wheel. This study provides insight to the experiences of 57 K-12 teachers who are participating in a 3-year federally funded teacher networking project titled Building Educational Communities. Through this study, these teachers share their experiences in learning to use computer-mediated communications and the impediments and excitation entailed by these experiences. Data sources examined include individual and focus group interviews, email communication patterns, and unedited email comments from the teachers involved. Thematic trends in the types of email communications sent to a group discussion list are discussed as well as communication patterns throughout a 200-day time frame. Establishing an initial group of trained teacher mentors is recognized as a factor critical to the project's success.

Citation

Ayersman, D. & Hines, V. (1996). Gaining Insight Into K-12 Educators’ Learning Experiences With Computer-Mediated Communications Via Qualitative Inquiry. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 2(4), 291-310. Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 19, 2022 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/10266/.

© 1996 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

Keywords

• Communication
• computer mediated communication
• computer-mediated communication
• K-12 teachers
• Teachers