A New Professionalism? Teacher Use of Multimedia Portable Computers with Internet Capability

This paper examines the experience of some of the teachers participating in the Multimedia Portables for Teachers Pilot, one of 25 projects composed the United Kingdom Education Department's Superhighways Initiative. The Pilot put 1,138 high-specification portable computers in the hands of practicing teachers in a range of schools. The teachers interviewed in the course of undertaking case studies as part of the formal evaluation of the Pilot generally exhibited very high levels of motivation and self-reliance. The paper re-examines these case studies in the light of specific ideas of teacher professionalism and of the transition to postmodernity. It is concluded that the Pilot has been successful in providing a context for teacher professionalism to flourish and that the Pilot was somewhat postmodern in nature--flexible, adaptable, sensitive to context, and non-prescriptive. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/AEF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** A New Professionalism? Teacher Use of Multimedia Portable Computers with Internet Capability Tony Fisher, School of Education, University of Nottingham, England. Email: tony.fisher@nottingham.ac.uk ERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY