A study asked how the use of the Reading Classroom Explorer (RCE)--a hypermedia learning environment that features video clips of successful teachers teaching reading to a diverse array of students--influences beginning teachers' thinking about reading issues. The context of the study was a reading education course which included use of RCE. Various kinds of information were gathered on 14 participants (all post-BA students), including course papers, interviews, surveys, and videotaped RCE work sessions. The statements in course papers were analyzed to identify claims, questions, interpretations, and summaries in relation to RCE content. Participants were clustered into three groups, reflecting the degree to which they used RCE in their course papers: investors (high use of RCE, even when not required in an assignment); compliers (use of RCE when required to do so for an assignment); and resisters (low use of RCE). Results indicated that involvement in an interactive learning environment such as RCE increases beginning teachers' awareness of multiple perspectives and approaches to teaching reading; but that the long-term impact on these teachers' classroom practice has yet to be established. Further studies should address this question and others--most specifically, the effects of opportunities such as RCE during the first few years of teaching. (Contains 11 references and 6 tables of data; appendixes contain paper assignments and the classification scheme.) (RS)