Inquiry into Mediated Action: The Implementation of an Innovation Cluster Donna Russell, Ph.D. University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Education Curriculum and Instructional Leadership russelldl@umkc.edu Introduction This study also looks at how two innovations, an emerging technology and a unit design framework are used to implement a constructivist-based learning environment. Rogers (1995) initially established a framework that helps to understand the complex process by which individuals and organizations adopt new ideas and practices. Any innovation represents an alternative way of completing tasks and solving a variety of problems. This study systemically analyzes how the two innovations are implemented in conjunction with each other and in the context in which they are used. Silverman and Bailey (1961) demonstrated that an understanding of the development of innovations as a cluster may be required to achieve the anticipated relative advantage of each. The questions in this study define the relationship among aspects of the implementation of a reform-based unit which includes an innovation cluster of an emerging technology (Rogers, 1995; Hall, Wallace, & Dossett, 1973; Wilson, Sherry, Dobrovolny, Batty, & Ryder, 2001) and a framework for the design and implementation of a constructivist-based learning environment (Jonassen, 2000; Savery & Duffy, 1996; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Schank, 1994; Salomon, 1993). Objectives and Purposes The purpose of this study was to understand how teachers participate in collaborative professional development in order to implement an innovation cluster that included emerging technologies and a framework for a constructivist-based learning environment. The researchers focused on three progressive research issues during invivo data structuring: (1) What factors in a teacher’s school environments influence the implementation of an innovation cluster? (2) How does a teacher’s participation in collaborative professional development influence the implementation of an innovation cluster? (3) How does a teacher’s belief about learning and technology influence the implementation of an innovation cluster? Significance As a result of our study, we were able to describe the influences in the work activity of the teachers that affected the implementation of an online educational program. The study participants were 4 eMINTs teachers (enhancing Missouri’s InterNet Teaching) implementing an online authentic problem-solving unit simultaneously using advanced online technologies in four elementary schools throughout Missouri. Using cultural historical Activity Theory (AT) as a framework for analysis (Engeström, 1999), we created data structures based on the AT model and the concept of mediation (Wertsch, 1991). We also integrated theoretical constructs from related fields including professional development (Shulman, 1986, Korthagen, 1993), innovation (Rogers, 1995), cognition (Bereiter, 2001, Lave, 1999) and collaborative problem solving (Salomon, 1993, Jonassen, 2000, Pea, 2001) into operationalized groupings of interactions in the local and collaborative work activity of the teachers. Additionally, we focused on three progressive issues during data analysis: