Testing and validating frames for online organizations

In this paper we suggest that online environments can function as alternate “organizations” for pre-service and beginning teachers who may find themselves struggling in schools. Building on prior work on framing and reframing in organizations and schools, the authors present a new frame of analysis specifically geared for web-based learning/support communities. Data consist of transcripts from three forms of online discourse—an e-mail listserv, an electronic discussion board, and a course-related wiki—from three groups of preservice secondary teachers (grades 6-12) located in three U.S. states. The development and testing of the new frame and its potential use is relevant for teachers, teacher educators, and school administrators.