Social Capital and Internet Usage of Rural Guatemalan Teachers

This qualitative study examined Internet usage by §Guatemalan English teachers in the rural, indigenous §community of San Lucas Toliman, to improve §enrollments and persistence in online teacher §professional development programs promoted by the §Fundación Rigoberta Menchú Tum in collaboration with §the researcher. Woolcock s concepts of bonding, §bridging and linking social capital were united with §Rogers s theories of diffusion and perceived §attributes to ascertain why only 5 of 34 teachers §completed free online coursework. Principles of the §Participatory Rural Appraisal were used to interview §20 of the teachers and to interpret outcomes in a §community meeting. Findings included a high interest §in engaging the Internet and concerns about work §commitments, connectivity options, and family time §demands. This study has positive social change §implications by demonstrating how organizations can §promote community-driven research collaborations to §facilitate online teacher education in San Lucas §Toliman, and could be replicated in other remote §sectors of the developing world.