Genell Hooper Harris
Parkland College
Champaign, IL 61820
genellh@cua.cameron.edu
Gateway to Educational Change: A Situated
Evaluation of a FrEdMail AdoptionCollege of Education
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ph. D., May 1992Electronic networks are readily accessible in business and higher education. But only since the late 1970's has this communication medium been introduced into primary education, kindergarten through eighth grade. This study examines an electronic network known as FrEdMail (Free Educational Mail), specifically designed for education. This study traces the FrEdMail Network adoption process as six teachers in four rural Illinois schools are introduced to classroom telecommunications.
Innovation adoption is highly personal and complex (Bruce & Peyton, 1990; Fullan, 1991). Teachers are introduced to a novel concept, leave the inservice program and return to the classrooms for implementation. It is in their institutions where they confront situationally unique elements, i.e., classroom realities, that influence their decisions to implement or reject educational innovations. These realities include such elements as institutional environment and individual perspectives, such as goals, styles, practices and values.
The objective of this study was to examine this adoption process as teachers returned to their schools where they either rejected the FrEdMail Network or worked to fashion it with their classroom realities. Three research questions provided the focus: (a) How do teachers' pedagogical goals, practices, styles and values (classroom realities) relate to the way teachers incorporated or failed to incorporate FrEdMail?, (b) How does the institutional environment shape, constrain, or facilitate FrEdMail use? and, (c) What are the ways FrEdMail was used which reflect how it adapted to each teacher's classroom realities?
Situated Evaluation (Bruce, 1991) was chosen because of the value it places on individual teacher concerns, perspectives, and settings. Data were collected through the following qualitative techniques: (a) teacher, principal, student, and project director interviews, (b) classroom/inservice observations, (c) network messages, and (d) classroom artifacts.
Teachers' adoption of FrEdMail was influenced by their existing values regarding computers. Implementation was more successful when teachers employed FrEdMail as an enhancement to previously proven lessons. Teachers viewed FrEdMail adoption as a series of steps rather than a single product. The time of year also affected FrEdMail use. These findings and others reflected how teachers responded to FrEdMail and how this innovation conformed, altered or was rejected based upon their classroom realities.
Committee: Karl Koenke (Chair), Bertram Bruce (Research Director), Charles Weller, David Brown, Sheryl Benson, Michael Waugh, David Pyle, Liora Bresler.