| The primary purpose of the proposed study is to (1) examine the process and product of computer-mediated communication between pre-service and in-service teachers. Another purpose is to (2) expose the preservice teachers to the culture of teaching through the connection of in-service mentor teachers.;The subjects were thirty-three pre-service teachers enrolled in the researcher's Reading in the Content Area Method's course in the southwestern part of the United States. The pre-service teachers were ranked as juniors in the College of education and ranged from 20--50+.;The in-service teachers were solicited through an educational listserv. The volunteer in-service teacher mentors represented nineteen states plus two in Australia.;Ethnography is both a product and process of this dissertation. The story of pre-service and in-service teachers communicating by e-mail is the product and process in the method of inquiry, which leads to the dissertation (LeCompte & Priessle, 1993).;The data collection consisted of e-mail messages sent between pre-service and in-service teachers for a period of eight weeks during the semester and pre-service teachers' reflection journals.;The e-mail messages were analyzed using content analysis to formulate the themes of high, moderate, and low successful interactions between pre-service and in-service teachers and their consequent sub-themes.;The suggested overall theme emerging from the e-mail messages between pre-service and in-service teachers is the necessity of perceived support. Emotional support is a necessary criteria to open the door for pre-service teachers to begin to examine their own previously held beliefs about teaching, and to begin reflective thinking about those beliefs.;The implications for future research of computer-mediated communication between pre-service and in-service teachers suggest a possible model of enculturating teachers into the culture of teaching. |
