Internet in Schools: An Innovation Challenge: A Comparative Study: California, England and Singapore

The Internet in schools presents challenges to education. This book looks at the issues of technology-based transformation from the perspectives of teachers and policy makers. Educational institutions in California, England, and Singapore were the research venues. From a teacher¿s perspective, embedding the Internet or any technological tool into their classroom is based on a time for value assessment. In all three venues, the research found that teachers use the Internet as a tool for administrative tasks; however, they found it difficult to integrate this technology into their classrooms because the Internet¿s time investment for value received did not fully meet most teachers¿ expectations. Policy makers face a challenge of shaping a complex technology like the Internet to effectively fit into the social, physical and pedagogical parameters of classrooms. As technologies such as the Internet continue to ¿morph,¿ the ongoing dilemma of fit to classroom environments will continue to pose challenges to education.

Dr. Marylou L. Shockley is currently the Chair of the School of Business at California State University-Monterey Bay. She received her DPhil. from the Sa¿d Business School at Oxford University. Dr. Shockley is also a Stanford University Sloan Fellow. She has extensive managerial experience in the telecommunications industry.