Integrating Internet Resources into the Science Classroom: Teachers' Perspectives

This paper presents teachers' perspectives on the impact of Internet usage on their teaching practices. Semi-structured interviews with ten teachers and two identical on-line surveys were used to collect data from teacher participants in the West Virginia K-12 RuralNet Project. Questions were directed toward teachers' understandings of Internet resources, the development of collaborative relationships and the use of investigative projects in classrooms. Teacher enthusiasm for benefits of the information highway is mingled with frustrations with the nature of the Internet medium and constraints within schools.