This case study was conducted in order to understand the challenges and
experiences of teachers from the Westview School District (pseudonym) participating in
the British Columbia Ministry of Education's Grades 6-9 Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) Initiative. The four levels of teachers for this study
included: 1. staff from the ministry responsible for either coordinating or managing the
Initiative; 2. staff from the district responsible for implementing the Initiative in the
district; 3. mentors who were the teachers responsible for supporting mentees as they
implemented ICTs into their practice; 4. mentees who were the teachers implementing
ICTs into their teaching practice.
The research questions that framed this study are: 1. By participating in the
Initiative did teachers make any changes to their practice, confidence levels and
attitudes towards information and communication technology? 2. How effective was the
mentorship model for implementing information and communication technology? 3.
What factors are necessary to support the adoption of information and communication
technology in teaching practice?
Three methods of data collection were used including interviews, a personal
journal and observation of mentors and mentees. Teachers were given a choice of being
interviewed using either personal, email or mail interviews. From the analysis of the
data, clusters of themes of experiences were identified including; teachers' motivations
and feelings; difficulties with the mentoring relationship; technology issues; satisfaction
and dissatisfaction with the Initiative. In conclusion, outside forces that are beyond the control of educators can
seriously affect the outcome of educational initiatives. In order to counteract these
forces, other means of support including funding must be made available. Time is
required to make substantial changes to teachers' practice and students' learning.
Therefore, technology implementation must be supported over a period of more than
one and a half years before noticeable changes can be made. Mentoring is not a
relationship that can be created for or imposed on people and it requires time to
develop. The complexities of the combination of needs, personalities and skills make
mentoring a difficult relationship to create through a one time initiative.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/14942 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Dean, Virginia Clare |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds