The purpose of this thesis was to study some women's participation in two different kinds of computerised further education organised as distance education. Both groups used the FirstClass conference system as a tool for bridging distances. One was a university program for teachers in special education and the other was a computerised Network for professional special education teachers, run by the members. The dissertation was grounded in feminist theory and in a socio-cultural perspective on learning. The empirical material consists of questionnaires, interviews and analysis of the communication in both computer conferences. The result showed that the women appreciated the opportunity to study at a distance. They enjoyed the flexibility in time and space and the opportunity to be a part of a fellowship. There were great differences in the pattern of communication and the contents in the two settings. In the Special Education Programme the communication was regular and the inputs were usually related to the literature and examination issues. In the Network the communication was more sporadic. The inputs were usually short and consisted mostly of information. The contributions in both settings were generally univocal and usually they did not show that the individual participants developed new pedagogical perspectives or views related to the actual question. This investigation showed that it was difficult to establish discussions and co-operation via the computer, especially in the Network. However the women were satisfied with the continuing education and felt that the written communication via the computer conferences developed their knowledge in special pedagogy and helped them to reflect upon their work as special education teachers. Distance education could however become a gender-trap as it was found to allow the women to combine unpaid work in the family with both paid work and studies. / digitalisering@umu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-16562 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Wännman Toresson, Gunnel |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Pedagogiska institutionen, Umeå : Umeå universitet |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral thesis, monograph, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Akademiska avhandlingar vid Pedagogiska institutionen, Umeå universitet, 0281-6768 ; 62 |
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