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Dissertation Information for Susan Nelson Wood

NAME:
- Susan Nelson Wood

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Education

SCHOOL:
- University of Florida (USA) (1997)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: A case study of three teachers in the Kentucky Telecommunications Writing Project

Abstract: Teacher networking is a critical feature of school reform. This case study, conducted over a three-year period, explored the impact of telecommunications networking on the professional development of teachers. Special funding enabled teachers, with no prior expertise but required by educational mandates to integrate technology and writing, to form a private electronic network connecting their students and themselves.

Methods used to describe the teachers-only discussion and planning area of the larger network and to analyze the nature of teacher learning over the duration of the project were interpretive. Data included field notes compiled from the online discourse, tape recordings and transcriptions of interviews, artifacts from the project, informal surveys, and participant observation notes taken during three planning meetings.

The analysis of three years of online discourse--over a thousand notes in which teachers talked freely about their personal and professional lives--described the network as an egalitarian discourse community whose main function, mutual support, resulted in significant teacher learning. During the first year participants mastered the technology and created shared-space. In the second year they focused far more on curriculum content and innovation. The final year they wrote for publication and presented at state and national conferences.

A closer look at the individual participation of three of the teachers revealed three areas of teacher learning: writing, technology, and professional development. Results indicate that teachers varied in their commitment to the network and their learning from participation. Although all three involved their students and participated consistently throughout the duration of the project, they developed three different patterns of use, purposes for use, and functions of use. The study confirms Smylie's (1995) seven factors that work as facilitators or barriers to teacher participation and learning, and it suggests that the most critical factor was related to the personal goals of the teacher.

MPACT Scores for Susan Nelson Wood

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-09-24 09:18:08

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