This thesis examines the dimensions of user engagement with an online forum on British
Columbia's new policy on educational technology. Contributors to this site included
elementary and secondary schoolteachers, distance educators, parents, students, researchers,
BC Teachers' Federation staff and officers of the Ministry of Education. In the main, they
did not respond to Ministry documents directly. Analysis of the site discussions reveals that
participants mostly used the forum to debate the principles o f teaching and learning with
technology. While many messages included collegial expressions of support, others revealed
the political, ideological and pedagogical boundaries between the various education sectors
in BC.
In follow-up interviews, participants reported that the discussions were often fragmented
and hard to follow, that it was virtually impossible to tell i f anyone else was listening, and
what the impact of their contributions was. They were conscious of their professional status
and uncomfortable about not knowing the size or identity of their audience, which included
the Ministry of Education (BC). From the interview data I argue that the forum did not
significantly increase public contributions to policy debate. However, while they
acknowledged the shortcomings of the medium, participants still agreed that a forum of this
kind was a valuable feature of their professional and political landscapes.
In conclusion, I argue that different users differed enormously in their expectations of
what the site offered, what their contribution might be and how such a site contributed to the
realm of policy discussion at large. The political and educational agendas of those who did
participate remained separate, fragmented and occasionally conflicting. The terms of
engagement and motivation, as well as the shortcomings of this type of discussion, form the
subject of this analysis. The conclusions reached here are critical to understanding the
potential of this new medium for encouraging greater dialogue around political and
professional issues in education and other fields. Finally, I argue that, i f the Ministry of
Education could show a more effective listening presence, the texts which are produced on a
future site would be more likely to answer their policy consultation needs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/13079 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Klinger, Shulamit Sara |
| 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/] |
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