"EnergyNet: Learning from Year One"
Table of Contents
Introduction/Objectives of the Study
Significance
Theoretical Underpinnings
Design and Procedures
Findings
Recommendations
References

Design and Procedures

As stated above, this research effort was intended to be formative in nature, designed to inform researchers and developers of emerging issues involved in the implementation of a telecommunications project. Because Internet technology and levels of connectivity in schools are changing so fast, it is difficult to establish a benchmark for comparisons.

Much of the research data was gathered through interviews. Each of the 19 teachers completing EnergyNet in the 1994-95 school year were interviewed via telephone using an established interview protocol. In addition, all of the project staff [e.g. curriculum developers, project director, technical support staff] were interviewed to determine their perceptions as to the successes of the project and the issues which needed to be attended to. The interviews were tape recorded, transcribed, and analyzed, with common themes being extracted for further consideration. These themes included factors generic to the teaching profession, program-specific factors, and technological factors relating to the software and Internet connections.

A second component of the research was an analysis of the data available from logs of e-mail messages and calls to the 800 help line established by the project. These sources of data provided a statistical profile of the patterns of participation. Counts were taken of messages sent and received by each participating site, and levels of participation were measured by tracking how many sites submitted each of the ten data tables which were a part of the project.