Necessary Conditions to Implement Innovation in Remote Networked Schools: The Stakeholders' Perceptions

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.