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ERIC Number: ED512955
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 311
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-1-1092-9606-8
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
An Exploratory Study of the Implementation of Computer Technology in an American Islamic Private School
Saleem, Mohammed M.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison
This exploratory study of the implementation of computer technology in an American Islamic private school leveraged the case study methodology and ethnographic methods informed by symbolic interactionism and the framework of the Muslim Diaspora. The study focused on describing the implementation of computer technology and identifying the underlying themes through observations, document analysis, and teachers' personal stories about the implementation of technology in their school. The study also examined Muslim teachers' views about technology and its implementation in the Islamic school. The findings of the study were contextualized within the work of Becker, Cuban, and Saettler on the implementation of computer technology in American public schools and within the historical interaction of Muslims with technology. Financial challenges, belief in the technological sublime, and the availability of a "technological wizard" has made the Islamic school an inadvertent participant in the open source movement. Similar to public school teachers, teachers in Islamic schools use the practicality ethic in their decisions about computer use and identified similar external and internal barriers to the implementation of computers. A lack of basic skills, a segregated computer class, multi-grade classrooms, and issues of h[dotbelow]alal and h[dotbelow]aram were some of the barriers that were uniquely identified by the Islamic school teachers. Teachers' consideration of Islam as Din and their perception of their role as a Murabbi obliges them to consider issues of h[dotbelow]alal and h[dotbelow]aram when implementing computer technology. Teachers constantly negotiate the tension between the need to preserve the Islamic identity of their students and their belief in the technological sublime. The tension between innovation and tradition exists due to the Islamic concept of Bid'ah. The ijtihadi framework proposed provides a schema for understanding the varying but pragmatic approach the Islamic school teachers utilize while making decisions on the use of technology. The Internet allows female Muslim teachers to transcend traditionally established boundaries and subverts the authority of the 'ulama by reconfiguring religious space. Teachers' participation in trans-localized virtual Muslim communities contributes to the development of a pan-Islamic identity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A