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The Internet as a Site for Changing Practice: The Case of Ms. Owens

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Abstract

The Internet has been seen as a resource for reforming education. Researchers and reformers have had some success in developing reform-based innovations using the Internet. However, most teachers who use the Internet are not part of such projects and instead, are developing their own approaches to Internet use. This study explores the experiences of one teacher as she uses the Internet on her own as a tool for changing her practice. Ms. Owens is a high school chemistry teacher who used the Web as part of a unit on nuclear chemistry. Her experience suggests that reform by way of the Internet is complex and challenging; that it makes huge demands on teacher knowledge and time; and that, even with commitment and effort, the results can be distant from the kind of science reform at which the NRC Standards are aimed.

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Wallace, R.M. The Internet as a Site for Changing Practice: The Case of Ms. Owens. Research in Science Education 32, 465–487 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022477832695

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