ERIC Number: ED297708
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1986-Jun
Pages: 28
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
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EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Teachers' Adoption of Multimedia Technologies for Science and Mathematics Instruction. Technical Report No. 40.
Martin, Laura M. W.
This report describes a training project undertaken as part of the Bank Street College Mathematics, Science and Technology Teacher Training Project (MASTTE) to introduce teachers to "The Voyage of the Mimi," a 13-part television drama and multimedia package designed to supplement the regular curricula for science and mathematics in the upper-elementary and middle school grades. A major focus of the discussion is the effectiveness of the Mimi materials for classroom use, i.e., four microcomputer modules with manuals and a book version of the television show with classroom activity suggestions and additional factual information. The effects of the organizational features of the individual school systems on the adoption and diffusion of these materials are also discussed, using the notions of multi-entry levels of technology and embedded context analysis to help describe and understand the factors affecting classroom change mediated by the introduction of technology. It was found that teachers were able to tolerate a wide range of conditions for working with the Mimi package, and that the teachers' work in the classroom seemed to be as much influenced by the technology as the technological applications were shaped by the teachers. Finally, it was also found that the school systems significantly influenced and defined the project goals for the teachers, so that individual experimentations by teachers in the classrooms had different impacts depending on the context of the wider systems in which they occurred. (17 references) (EW)
Descriptors: Adoption (Ideas), Computer Assisted Instruction, Computer Simulation, Discovery Learning, Educational Television, Elementary Secondary Education, Inservice Teacher Education, Instructional Development, Instructional Innovation, Intermediate Grades, Mathematics Instruction, Microcomputers, Multimedia Instruction, Science Instruction, Teacher Role
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Bank Street Coll. of Education, New York, NY. Center for Children and Technology.
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Author Affiliations: N/A