This study explores the possibility that in schools where an informational and social support network is available and where a sufficient technological infrastructure is in place, computer use may be a powerful catalyst leading to more constructivist practices on the part of teachers. Survey research at 153 schools of the National School Network provides evidence that under these favorable circumstances, teachers’ sustained use of computers and exploration of Internet resources is related to their increased use of constructivist teaching practices and may even change teachers’ pedagogical beliefs that underlie such practices. The relationship between computer use and pedagogical change is particularly strong among secondary teachers in social studies, science, and noncore subjects. This article discusses three alternative theories to account for the observed correlations.

In a study of 153 schools where social support networks for teachers and sufficient technological infrastructures were in place, Becker and Ravitz (1999) found that teachers' increased use of constructivist teaching practices' was related to their sustained use of computers and their pedagogical exploitation of the Internet; Becker and Ravitz claim that the supportive conditions and the use of technology may cultivate pedagogical beliefs that underlie constructivist practices. In particular, they found that frequent computer and Internet use appear to be related to teachers'

1. being more willing to discuss a subject about which they lack expertise and allowing themselves to be taught by students;
2. organizing multiple, simultaneous activities during class time;
3. assigning complex projects for students;
4. giving students greater choice in learning tasks; and
5. recognizing the initiative that students can take outside class to do high-qualitywork.