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This paper investigates the presence (or absence) of Ely's (1999) conditions for implementing innovation in a rural context in the province of Quebec (Canada). The innovation, namely the Remote Networked School (RNS) initiative, is designed to bring new technology tools to enrich the learning environment of students and diminish teachers' isolation in the smallest and most remote schools of the province. The study presents a discourse analysis of four major stakeholder groups of the RNS initiative over three years. The qualitative analysis was designed to identify: 1) the conditions for innovation that were most present in stakeholder discourse over the years; 2) the indicators that strengthened the conditions for innovation presence or absence; and finally, 3) certain variations occurring during the adoption/implementation years of the RNS initiative. This paper reconfirms the adequacy of Ely's model as an effective framework for understanding and monitoring ICT-based systemic teaching and learning innovations such as the province-wide RNS initiative in Quebec.

This article describes the just-in-time online professional development offered to teachers in the Remote Networked Schools (RNS), a systemic initiative funded by the Quebec Ministry of Education (Canada), which aims at enriching the learning environment of small rural schools with the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The design experiment method studies the activity identified and the types of professional development offered by a university-based intervention team (UBIT) over six years of deployment. (Contains 4 tables, 4 figures and 5 footnotes.)

Remote Networked Schools (RNS) is an initiative by the Quebec Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports (MELS) to investigate solutions that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) can offer for the preservation of small rural schools in Quebec, Canada. The implementation of RNS mobilized then--as it still does now--the local capacity for innovation of all the stakeholders involved in this networking effort to improve learning. Building on Donald P. Ely's work (1990; 1999), this paper presents the results of an investigation of the RNS educational stakeholders' perceptions of the importance of the conditions that facilitate the implementation of educational technology innovations for the success of RNS in their locations.

Education research has shown the importance of helping students develop comprehension skills. Explanation-seeking rather than fact-seeking pedagogies have been shown to warrant deeper student understanding. This study investigates the use of Knowledge Forum (KF) in K-6 classrooms (n = 251) to develop students' explanation skills. To this end, we conducted pre- and post- activity interviews with students who used KF to investigate various topics. Their online collaborative discourse was also analyzed. Our results show that: 1) students' explanations improved significantly between pre- and post-activity interviews, 2) active KF users scored higher than less active users on the post-activity interviews, and 3) students who had the best written explanations on KF scored much higher on the post-activity interviews even when they had scored much lower than less active students in the pre-activity interviews.

School staff who work with autistic students are at a high risk of exhaustion. More training and guidance are needed to enable them to respond to these students' needs. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a professional development program offered by an occupational therapist to help a team of school staff facilitate the participation of autistic students and their peers. A design-based research approach guided the development and evaluation of the modalities of the program. A case study was conducted in a school with nine school staff members using individual interviews, questionnaires, and a logbook. The program comprised five modalities: regular presence of the occupational therapist, a needs analysis, content focused on the features of an inclusive school, individual coaching, and team coaching. The following elements emerged as particularly helpful for the participants: frequent interactions with the occupational therapist, opportunities to collaborate, personalized support, experimentation of new practices with the occupational therapist, and concrete training content that can benefit all students. The modalities of the program appear promising to help a school team facilitate the participation of all students, including those who are autistic. Occupational therapists can help school teams to facilitate the participation of autistic students and their peers. A combination of individual and team coaching sessions appears promising in helping school staff adopt practice changes to make their school more inclusive. Using a multi-tiered approach can help therapists collaborate with school staff members to first find solutions that will be applicable with all of their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared educational outcomes associated with an active vs. passive continuing professional development activity on self-management support for respiratory educators. There is a need to identify learning activities associated with the most successful continuing professional development programs for respiratory educators. This was a non-randomized controlled mixed-methods study recruiting respiratory educators attending a continuing professional development activity on self-management support. In the experimental group, active learning methods (role-play simulations) were employed, whereas passive learning methods (lecture) were used in the comparison group. Educators were allocated to the comparison group (first 15 months of the study), then to the experimental group (last 17 months). Educators filled questionnaires measuring pre-/post-activity knowledge about self-management support (score 0–25) and self-reported competence (score 1–10). Scores were compared using mixed-effect models. Interviews with educators were conducted and content analysis was performed. We recruited 94/94 educators (active: n = 51; passive: n = 43). Knowledge scores increased to a greater extent in the active vs. passive learning group (adjusted difference-in-difference [aDID]=2.01; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 0.14–3.88), although competence scores increased to a greater extent in the passive learning group (aDID=−0.38; 95%CI: −1.56 to −0.04). Reflecting on their competence, educators of the active learning group identified the need to further improve their self-management support skills, whereas educators of the passive learning group did not. Our results show that an active learning continuing professional development activity on self-management support could help educators to better apply knowledge and appears to engage them in a process of reflection on action. • Satisfaction is not different whether the activity employs active or passive learning. • Educators involved in role-play simulations (active learning) acquire more knowledge. • These educators report feeling less competent. • However, they engage in more thoughtful reflection on action. • Mentoring from experienced educators could leverage learning to improve practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: eHealth is developing rapidly and brings with it a promise to reduce social health inequalities (SHIs). Yet, it appears that it also has the potential to increase them.Objectives: The general objective of this review was to set out how to ensure that eHealth contributes to reducing SHIs rather than exacerbating them. This review has three objectives: (1) identifying characteristics of people at risk of experiencing social inequality in health; (2) determining the possibilities of developing eHealth tools that avoid increasing SHI; and (3) modeling the process of using an eHealth tool by people vulnerable to SHI.Methods: Following the EPPI approach (Evidence for Policy and Practice of Information of the Institute of Education at the University of London), two databases were searched for the terms SHIs and eHealth and their derivatives in titles and abstracts. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed articles were included and evaluated. The software NVivo (QSR International) was employed to extract the data and allow for a metasynthesis of the data.Results: Of the 73 articles retained, 10 were theoretical, 7 were from reviews, and 56 were based on empirical studies. Of the latter, 40 used a quantitative approach, 8 used a qualitative approach, 4 used mixed methods approach, and only 4 were based on participatory research-action approach. The digital divide in eHealth is a serious barrier and contributes greatly to SHI. Ethnicity and low income are the most commonly used characteristics to identify people at risk of SHI. The most promising actions for reducing SHI via eHealth are to aim for universal access to the tool of eHealth, become aware of users' literacy level, create eHealth tools that respect the cultural attributes of future users, and encourage the participation of people at risk of SHI.Conclusions: eHealth has the potential to widen the gulf between those at risk of SHI and the rest of the population. The widespread expansion of eHealth technologies calls for rigorous consideration of interventions, which are not likely to exacerbate SHI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]