THE MOLENET PROGRAMME - USING ACTION RESEARCH TO ENCOURAGE TEACHER UNDERSTANDING, IMPROVE PRACTICE AND EFFECT INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
Author(s):
Carol Savill-smith,
Rebecca Douch
Paper abstract: The Mobile Learning NETwork (MoLeNET) programme is a substantial three-year mobile learning
initiative taking place in England. In its first year £6m of capital funding was made available by the
Learning and Skills Council, and more than 10,000 learners and 1,000 teachers/lecturers in 32 projects
based in Further Education/Sixth Form Colleges and their partner organisations took part. Now coming
to the end of its second year, where £4m of capital funding was made available, and more than 11,000
learners and 2,000 teachers/lecturers/mentors took part in 30 projects, MoLeNET is about to begin its
third year in which £3.5m capital funding has been allocated.
This paper describes the overall research approach used within the programme across all three years,
namely action research, which encourages teacher understanding, the improvement of practice and
institutional change. The reasons for choosing this approach, what it has meant in terms of project
management, and reflections by the researchers involved provide a glimpse into how the approach was
perceived, adopted, operationalised and the impact on them as agents of change. The data and findings
reported here relate to the first two phases of the MoLeNET programme, 2007-2009.
