Tecnologias da informação e da comunicação e a escola pública: relato de uma experiência

Abstract

This paper is aimed at establishing the limits and possibilities of using information and communication technology in the teaching-learning process. This investigation was carried out in a public municipal primary school, which was beginning to get acquainted with this new technology by means of a community-based project. The research methodology used a modified case study format, since the person carrying out the research also participated as the pedagogical coordinator of the project. It was then possible to verify that the use of information and communication technology in the teaching-learning process can have a positive contribution, as it contributed to enrich the pedagogical environment. However, if this process of implementing the use of such technology is not in line with the political-pedagogical policy of the school, some limitations will have to be overcome. Throughout the research, there was a trend towards raising the expectation of both the teachers and the students in the use of this new information and communication technology in the school environment. It was possible to verify that those expectations were related to the teachers concern in offering the students a better alternative to the skill-building process. At first, this was also the main concern on the part of a group of students. Nonetheless, as the study progressed, and as access to this technology became available, the initial concern was gradually substituted by a general feeling of connectivity, of belonging to modern society. This fact, in itself, is a sure indicator of the need to include social issues in any proposal advocating the use of such technology in the school environment.