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=Axes to Grind: An Investigation into the Systemic Influences on Change in the NEPAD E-Schools Initiative= By [|Craig McDonald]

//(N.B. On all pages with audio the files are in mp3 format. If you have trouble listening to these for whatever reason, I have pasted the full text in the Discussion tab of the page, so it can be read.)//

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The Change Focus
This investigation intends to take a look at change in digital technology from the perspective of a continental initiative, the NEPAD E-schools Initiative. In order to do this I am using Davis' (2008) Arena of Change model, as this gives a framework with which we can analyse the dynamics involved when a wide range of stakeholders, including private corporations, governments, multilateral bureaucracies, teachers, students and their families all exert some level of influence on what happens in the classroom. Davis' (2008) model represents the classroom as an ecosystem, nested within a number of other ecosystems, from school to district to country and beyond. Acting across these nested ecosystems are a number of other actors, each with their own agendas and priorities, each of which has an effect on the diffusion of innovation in the classroom ecosystem. Davis (2008) identified each of these as an 'axis': Commercial, Bureaucratic, Political and Professional. This investigation intends to examine each of these axes, identifying which bodies represent them and what effect they have on the overall success or otherwise of the E-School Initiative.

=Planning Considerations= Clearly this is a different kind of investigation in that I do not personally have control over the design, implementation and timetable of the Initiative. I come to it as a distant observer, relying heavily on primary and secondary sources (namely official documents from the bureaucratic bodies and commercial consortia involved, and media reports about the Initiative. The Initiative aims to roll out over ten years across the continent of Africa, starting with a Demonstration Project. Obviously, therefore, I cannot observe this change in its entirety, but only aspects of it. For this reason I have decided to focus on the Demonstration Project, as this was a key part of the beginning phase of the Initiative, is largely complete in many countries, and has been subject to thorough monitoring and evaluation. It is this monitoring and evaluation that will provide the basis for my observations, as I am unable to observe in person.

Regarding my interview with a change agent, this provided another primary source. My questions were designed with Davis (2008) and Fullan and Stiegelbauer (in Ellsworth, 2000) in mind, and these questions also provided a framework for the reading of the aforementioned sources and literature.

In terms of the presentation itself, I felt a wiki gave me the most flexibility for editing and embedding media, and also, being web-based, avoiding any limits on data uploads. I recorded the audio in Garageband, converted it to mp3 format before inserting the file on each page. The wiki also enabled me to include a text version on the Discussion tab of each page, as noted above, to provide maximum flexibility to the viewer.