The influence of electronic mail on communication patterns among educators /

In the late 1990s, the Ministere de l'Education du Quebec (MEQ) undertook a reform program that would reframe the educational system. Technology and pedagogy were seen as needing realignment to better meet a student-centered, technology-driven, lifelong learning experience. The New Reform as this new framework is known will be fully implemented by 2008 and educators are its pivotal agents. With Information and Communications Technologies being central to the new reform, this qualitative study looks at educator use of the most widely used Internet application, electronic mail. Very little research has looked at how pervasive electronic mail has become among educators and how it is affecting their multidirectional, multilayered roles as educators. Data originate from respondent electronic mail, a literature review, and the author's personal experience. Outcomes, reached through inductive analysis, reveal that educators continue to experience difficulty manipulating electronic mail technology even though they appreciate its multiple advantages. How electronic mail can facilitate networked communication and educator teamwork to better translate the MEQ's new reform successfully is the focus of this study. Implications derived from the outcomes are discussed in view of enhancing ongoing contributions by Quebec educators