Activity theory as an analytic tool: The process of implementation from the perspective of teachers in one school district

Student achievement continues to be a critical factor in education, yet many schools are falling behind in this endeavor. Schools have implemented various technology-related programs to increase student academic achievement. One such program, Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), is designed to assist every student in becoming technologically literate by the end of 8th grade and to encourage the effective integration of technology through professional and curriculum development. Implementation assessment standards and reported experiences vary greatly among schools, districts, and states.; The purpose of the study was to understand the process of the implementation of an innovation, specifically the EETT grant project, at 4 middle schools in Grove Unified School District using activity theory as an analytical framework and 3 informant groups as data sources. Three research questions that relate to activity theory were developed from the literature studied and reported in chapter 2.; The first question sought to ascertain the individual informants' perceived roles in the community. The second examined the activities of the informants, and the third question was designed to learn what motivated informants as they engaged in the implementation process while integrating themselves into the community.; Each informant group was analyzed separately, and the data were aggregated in order to describe how the system reacts when a technology innovation is assimilated and to determine how the system acted on the informants. This study deals specifically with the teachers, however, data are combined to provide a holistic view of the implementation process using the framework provided by activity theory to tell the story of each school.; Results indicate that within the school district studied there was little dialogue amongst and within the 3 informant groups at each school, and there was virtually no dialogue between schools. Activity theory was particularly useful for this study as tensions were rampant in 2 of the schools and application of the analytical framework led to possible answers to larger issues in the system.