Uso do computador portátil na escola: perspectivas de mudanças na prática pedagógica

Abstract

Many researchers have investigated the use of laptops by teachers in the classroom both in Brazil and abroad. Literature points to the need of new teaching practices which could utilize the many technological resources available today, so that they are effectively used and exploited for more meaningful learning. The objective of this research in this context is to verify signs of changes in practices that elementary school teachers - from a state public school and a municipal public school, both in the countryside of the state of São Paulo develop with the use of laptop in the classroom. The theoretical framework that guides the research is based on constructionism, the concept of mobility, coupled with the use of portable computer, the notion of practical and reflective teacher, in the framework of pedagogical practices using this technology, and new teaching practices offered by the use of laptops. The research is characterized by a methodology called mixed method and presents multiple study cases or collective and educational cases. Questionnaires were utilized (quantitative research), as well as, interviews, records of observations and teachers‟ goals reports (qualitative research). As a result it was possible to identify new practices with the use of laptops, such as these: focus on the development of students‟ autonomy; promotion of collaborative and reflexive activities; development of competencies required for the use of technologies; a consensus that the use of portable computers and the Internet facilitates the reaching of these objectives; the understanding that the use of these devices makes students more interested in the classes due to the diversity of activities proposed for students, who are, in these two schools, the center of the pedagogical approach