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Eric -

In my experience, both lifestyle and mindset in any big city are quite
different from the "reality" that we face in such remote places as
Mobile, AL...and even remoter places like rural America. I think you
can't get away from the blinders that the pace and the energy of the Big
Apple naturally produce. The primary difference I was thinking of (more,
admittedly, as a matter of opinion than based on data) is simply that
teachers in NYC are more likely to have access to the Internet at all.
While I realize that circumstances across public schools nationwide
might put many teachers on equal footing as far as access to technology
and information, my assumption is that by virtue of living in NYC, your
teachers probably have more access to the Internet at other places (such
as home), and are also more likely to be of a mindset to use their
computers. You'd be amazed (or maybe you wouldn't be) at the number of
teachers with whom I work who don't even know they have email through
their school systems, much less use it.

Finally, your sample population seems to be self-selecting for
likeliness to use the Internet: 80% of your respondents answered an
email that asked them to respond. That said, the results might be
particularly interesting if these teachers are telling you that they
don't use the Internet for resources related to field trips.

None of this, of course, is to say that the work you have done is not
important. Like many others, I will be interested in seeing not only the
results, but in learning how I can attempt to replicate them in my
environment.

Bill

Bill Watson
Education Director
Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center
Mobile, AL
(251) 208-6851

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