Description: Topic: Qualitative study of the impact of digital technology in a remote rural school. This was a grass roots evaluation of a project proposed and implemented by teachers in a secondary school. Context: The context of the evaluation was a rural secondary school in a very isolated part of Scotland. The school has the largest geographical catchment area in the UK. A group of teachers made a proposal to the Future Learning and Teaching programme (FlaT) administered by the Scottish Executive Education Department. The proposal, which was subsequently funded under the FlaT programme, was for a one-year project to facilitate the embedding of digital technology in some areas of the curriculum. The specific areas of the curriuclum included Music, Art, Science and Support for Learning. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to explore the overall effectiveness of the innovative participatory research design, which was developed to evaluate the impact of the Digital Technology Project (DTP) in the remote isolated setting of the Northwest of Scotland. Some of the key findings from the research will be used to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the selected innovative qualitative ethnographic-style approaches. Research aim: The main aim of the research was to investigate the views of the school and local community about whether the Digital Technology project had achieved its intended aims. The key stakeholder groups who participated in the research were: the pupils, the teachers, the support staff, the parents and other commnity members. The selected methods, which were most appropriate for gathering this type of indepth data in an isolated community, were entirely qualitative and ethnographic in nature. Methodology: The Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) commissioned an external evaluation of the Digital Technology Project as part of a Framework Agreement betweeen the SEED and Professor J E Wilkinson of the Faculty of Education in the University of Glasgow. The research team comprised Julia Davidson, SCRE Centre, Irene McQueen and Fraser McConnell, Department of Curriculum Studies and J Eric Wilkinson. Methods of data collection were entirely qualitative and designed to encourage reflection on the part of the participants. Sixteen indepth interviews were conducted with the school's staff. Eight focus group discussions were held with the pupils. The digital video films produced by the pupils were used as prompts and stimuli for the discussions. Some of the shortcomings and benefits of using the stimulated recall method, with pupils' films clips, as prompts to start the focus group discussions will be mentioned in the presentation. Interviews were also conducted over the telephone with 14 parents and 3 community partners. A web log forum was available for participants who, upon further reflection susequent to the interviews, had additional comments. Conclusions: This paper's focus is an exploration of the innovative methodology used in this grass roots evaluation. It explores some of the key findings and issues from the perpsectives of the pupils, staff and other community members. The presentation considers the advantages and disadvantages of the participatory methods and ethnographic type of approaches adopted in this remote isolated secondary school. Overall, the analysis of similarities and differences in viewpoints was grounded in terms of stakeholder groups. There will be some discussion of ways that the voices of individuals can be taken into account and fed back to a school's community in a reflective way. The presentation will highlight some of the evaluation's key findings. One important findings was that there was a positive impact of the DTP on the range of pupils' learning experiences in various subject areas. Pupils reported that they had improved their ability to work successfully with others in a creative, independent way. They also commented that, as a result of the project they had gained a substantial understanding of the process of recording original music and creating films using relevant software packages and other digital equipment in various curricular and extra-curricular activities. An example of some of the high quality of the pupils' output from the DTP was a film about the school's history. Participating teachers commented that they had improved their ICT skills, but had some concerns for the future development of ICT in the school. Some of the issues raised by the school's community about the future development of digital technology will be outlined. In conclusion, a question is raised as to whether or not similar qualitative approaches could be useful in the study ICT innovations in other geographically isolated communities in other parts of the UK and mainland Europe..