Evolution of the Conditions for Successful Innovation in Remote Networked Schools

This paper investigates the presence (or absence) of Ely’s (1999) conditions for implementing innovation in a rural context in the province of Quebec (Canada). The innovation, namely the Remote Networked School (RNS) initiative, is designed to bring new technology tools to enrich the learning environment of students and diminish teachers’ isolation in the smallest and most remote schools of the province. The study presents a discourse analysis of four major stakeholder groups of the RNS initiative over three years. The qualitative analysis was designed to identify: 1) the conditions for innovation that were most present in stakeholder discourse over the years; 2) the indicators that strengthened the conditions for innovation presence or absence; and finally, 3) certain variations occurring during the adoption/implementation years of the RNS initiative. This paper reconfirms the adequacy of Ely’s model as an effective framework for understanding and monitoring ICT-based systemic teaching and learning innovations such as the province-wide RNS initiative in Quebec.