Distance Learning: Creating a Teacher-as-Researcher Learning Environment Via the Internet

This paper discusses the creation of a teacher as researcher learning environment in one small rural Idaho elementary school via the Internet. At the request of five elementary school teachers the researcher created an on-line course, Teacher as Researcher, which provided instruction on both Action Research and Teacher as Researcher methodology. The researcher examined, analyzed, and described the learning process that took place among the teachers as novice on-line learners, between the teachers as teacher researchers, and the elements and processes that constituted their creation of a local learning community. The researcher met with the students at their request in real time for three consecutive days toward the end of the course to discuss the learning process that had transpired, answer questions, and bring closure to the teacher as researcher learning experience. The researcher views the Internet as a new medium for action research and teachers as researcher and a new opportunity for learners to discuss, share, and collaborate on classroom issues