The written production of argumentative and dissertation text: a didactic project based on Bakhtin's philosophy

This article is characterized as a theoretical and practical research related to a project developed during the year 2015 in two schools - one public, the other private- , in the city of Birigui, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The main goal of the study was to analyze: the pedagogical project and the teachers’ activities oriented towards teaching and learning of argumentative and dissertation texts. The methodology used in this research comprised: (i) visiting both schools, (ii) producing a description of ongoing school practices, with focus on the teaching of argumentative and dissertation texts, (iii) suggesting a teacher’s activity to improve this apprenticeship, (iv) putting this activity into practice and (v) analyzing obtained results. The theoretical framework used for this study was the Bakhtinian philosophy (BAKHTIN, 2013; 2006a; 2006b; 2006c; 2006d; 2010; 2013; VOLOSHINOV, 1986). This theoretical approach was chosen due to the importance of comprehension of the text not just as an amalgamated set of words, phrases and paragraphs; other than that, we understand it as a structure of meaning, in which we encounter linguistic forms, ideologies and discursive stance. At last, we can say the results show that the argumentative texts render assistance to the development of the students’ argumentative competence and skill, that is, in their ability to argue and organize ideas in a communicative situation

The knowledge and information in the connectivism theory

On the context of technological development and society organized on network, appears the learning theory for the digital age, the connectivism. It is about of a Siemens and Downes proposed, in 2004, that highlights the knowledge as result of established connections on the networks, what allows the capacity of reflection, deciding and sharing. In this context, it objectifies with this article searching the theoretical panorama of thematic about connectivism and its relation with knowledge and information. There is a search of quality approach and of exploratory nature that comes out of a Systematic Review of Literature adapted of Cochran Center. As result, it was observed that, on the searched basis, the number of publications in the period of 2011 to 2017 had the balance in total occurrences compared to the types of documents, events articles and periodicals, with a higher incidence of publication in 2015. For the paucity of thematic it was observed that has discussions about what refers the legitimacy of a theory for the connectivism

Teachers and Technology: A Complicated Relationship Pedro Brás, Guilhermina Lobato Miranda and João Marôco

Although technology is present in most classrooms and many countries have made strong recommendations for ICT integration in schools and teachers’ practices, a great number of teachers do not use ICT in their educational activities. Research has provided theories and models that explain the consistency of the relationship between attitudes and behavior. These theories converge to identify common aspects that foster technology integration.We now propose an “ICT Skills Towards Technology Use” (ISTTU) model to evaluate the impact of “ICT Knowledge” over “Intention to Use ICT” (IUICT). Based on previously validated questionnaires, we have developed a questionnaire that was applied to a sample of teachers from the vocational stream of secondary education in Portugal. The data was tested and evaluated using Structural Equation Modeling techniques and we concluded that “ICT Knowledge” is a good predictor of the “IUICT” and that “teaching area” has an impact on “Intention to Use ICT”. We also concluded that “gender” and “Learning through ICT” have no significant impact on IUICT. The ISTTU model shows that fostering the development of ICT skills (increasing “ICT Knowledge”) will develop the “intention to use technologies with students”

Relational epistemology and Amazonian land-based education : Learning the ideas of intra-dependency in the Central Purus River

This article discusses relational land-based education in the Brazilian Amazon and the idea of intra-dependency. The data produced with the Apurina presents the intra-relational spaces of knowing created between different beings, human and other-than-human, which contrast with the notion of individual learners. Apurina co-existence in learning also sheds light on the emotional dimension of Amazonian relational epistemology, while its inclusion of human-environment relations can contribute to taking seriously the practice of care toward other-than-human beings.Peer reviewe

Mobile Learning for Communicative Language Teaching: An Exploration of How Higher Education Language Instructors Design Communicative MALL Environments

The purpose of this study was to describe how higher education language instructors design mobile-assted language learning environments for communicative language teaching. As our focus in second language acquisition has moved toward a communicative approach, the media richness and communication savvy of mobile devices can plan a vital role in this new communicative goal. Offering authentic content and dialogue opportunities, language instructors can take advantage of these devices leading language learners to achieve true fluency in another language. While the opportunity for communicative language teaching with MALL is viable, how to best design MALL environments for this purpose is still in its infancy. Answering questions regarding device type, application usage, theoretical foundations, and communicative task type and frequency will add to the richness of research for planning communicative MALL experiences. This study focused on two research questions. The first question explored how higher education language instructors design mobile assisted language learning environments. The second dealt with influences that ignite those decisions. Four higher education language instructors participated in this case study. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews, document reviews, and observations, and were analyzed using general qualitative analysis and the constant comparative method. Three themes emerged in the findings: (1) describing the communicative language learning environment enhanced by mobility, (2) meeting student, organizational, and instructional needs/goals, and (3) planning the implementation of MALL experiences for communicative language purposes. A discussion integrated these findings with interpretations in order to answer the research questions. The data suggested higher education language instructors identify goals, and create authentic learning experiences via communicative modes in order to achieve those goals. Further, the data suggested they have theoretical alignments with constructionism and situated learning, hold strong beliefs in CLT, and have beliefs aobut mobility that inform how they design communicative MALL environments

A Pandemic engagement:teachers’ perceptions on their student’s engagement during Covid-19

Abstract. Uncertain times guided this research. The Covid-19 pandemic stroke by surprise everything and everyone, forcing all that witnessed to adapt rigidly. This research used what beforehand could be described as a devastating event as a learning process. The focus lays on those changes that broke the chain of our commodities, more precisely on the adaptation of students and teachers to an abrupt deviation of their normal education procedures. Teachers and students from all school years had to teach and learn online, and although too soon for prognostics somehow proved to prosper from it. Through the lens of the dimensions of Student Engagement and the use of technology this research analysed how those changes affected the teachers and their students’ lives. The research has been guided by the following research question: How do teachers perceive their students ‘engagement in online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic? For this qualitative research project, a total of 11 teachers of primary and 2nd cycle from different districts in Portugal were interviewed. The interviews last an average of 50 minutes. The considered aged staff faced here with a challenge without precedents proved to be open to the subject, culminating into findings of both natures, revealing some pros and cons of this new online classes and lastly some prospects for the future of education

Motivation and Beliefs about the Nature of Scientific Knowledge Within an Immersive Virtual Ecosystems Environment

We explored Grade 6 students‘ (n = 202) self-efficacy, epistemic beliefs, and science interest over a 10-day virtual ecology curriculum. Pre- and post-surveys were administered, and analyses revealed that (1) students became more self-efficacious about inquiring scientifically after participating in the activity; (2) students on average evinced a shift toward more constructivist views about the role of authority in justifying scientific claims; (3) students who identified more strongly with being a science person evinced greater gains in self efficacy, developed a less constructivist view about the role of authority in justifying claims, and became more interested in science overall; and (4) students who held an incremental theory of ability evinced greater gains in self-efficacy. We discuss the implications of these findings for science educators and instructional designers in the design and use of immersive virtual worlds for middle school science students

Strategies for teachers’ professional development : Fostering ICT proficient use

Tese de doutoramento, Educação (Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação na Educação), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2018Almost in third decade of the 21st century, with so many affordable or free technologies available, most teachers still don’t use digital technologies in their scholar activities. That was the focus of this entire research. The problem and the questions we aimed to answer with the present research are related to the variables that revealed the strongest predictive weight in the most credible scientific models that try to understand the technology acceptance by teachers. To answer those questions, we carried on two separate studies: i) A first study, with a methodology similar to a “survey research” where we propose a new development in the Technology Acceptance Models; ii) A second study, with a methodology close to “design-based research”, which proposes a model for the development of teachers' digital skills (in a quest for "Digital Proficiency”). The present research may be included in the scientific domain of technology acceptance and adoption theories and methodologies and the most credible scientific models look to identify the factors that foster the use of ICT in education (TRA, TPB, TAM, UTAUT). However, the variable “ICT skills” is not present in any of these models… Is that a neglectable factor? We believe that “ICT skills” is far from neglectable and we tried to develop a model that integrates this dimension, along with some other factors already present in the models from the available literature. In the first study (the we have called “A new development in the Technology Acceptance Models”) we searched the literature for the instruments already validated for the Portuguese reality, and we developed a new instrument, built over the reunion of 4 questionnaires, that was applied to teachers from all Professional Schools in Portugal (N=7293) and we received 444 complete answers, from 67 different professional schools. We have named the model that emerged from this process, developed using the Structural Equation Modelling technique, “ISTTU model” (ICT Skills Towards Technology Use). We discovered that “ICT Skills” have a strong influence over “ICT Intention to Use” (the strongest predictor of “ICT use”). The structural model revealed that ICT knowledge” was the factor that revealed the strongest effect (β=.63; p<.001) over the “Intention to use ICT”. The trajectory “Learning through ICT” → “Intention to use ICT” was not significant (β=.10; p=.037). Nevertheless, this model explained 45% of the variance, which means that other variables explain the remaining 55% and further field experience research is necessary to identify the other variables that may increase the variance explained by the ISTTU model: Effort Expectancy, Computer Anxiety, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Ease-of-Use. We believe, however, that first we need to provide teachers with adequate training, if we want them to be more willing to use the digital technologies in pedagogical contexts. The question is: how may we help them to develop these skills? Given the results and the conclusions of the first study, some questions have emerged: 1) Are online models suited to acquire digital skills? 2) Is online education (where digital skills are required) adequate to acquire “digital skills”? 3) Are online courses adequate to empower teachers to overcome their barriers to the use of digital technologies? 4) Will the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) increase the will to use digital technologies in the classroom? The second study (“A quest for "Digital Proficiency”) was developed to look for the answers to the questions that emerged from the first study, trying to mitigate (or eliminate) the barriers to the usage of digital technologies and empower the “average teacher” to proficiently use the common productivity applications and produce and share their own digital educational resources. For the second study, we have chosen a more pragmatic approach and we developed: a) online courses that aimed to provide teachers with the skills to proficiently use some of the productivity Office programs (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and resource production software (image editing, audio recording and editing, video recording); b) face-to-face workshops that targeted the same goals, but in a warmer and more informal environment, where fellow teachers and trainers (himself a teacher) were present and all doubts and questions could be immediately answered. From the results of both studies, we discovered that teachers are able and willing to shift from “technophobic” to “consumers” and from “consumers” to “producers”, as long as we provide them with the adequate scaffolded training. We also concluded that: i) “ICT skills” is a non-neglectable predictor of “Intention to use ICT”; ii) The online models are not suited when ICT skills are the subject to learn; iii) A series of workshops is much more profitable in the first stage to overcome barriers and anxiety. After these workshops, online courses may be suited to learn specific technologies; iv) There are no significant gender differences regarding the use of digital technologies; v) Considering the “Teaching Area”, teachers from the technical areas are more predisposed to use digital technologies, but the good response from those of “social and cultural” areas when compared with the “scientific” area teachers was surprisingly positive; vi) The use of Virtual Learning Environments do increase the use of Digital Technologies, indeed. After this research we have proved to be possible to change the landscape of “ICT use” in a microscale. The question now is: “will it be possible for this model to disseminate, and how much time will it take to reach a widespread use of Digital Technologies in todays’ schools”

Examining the relationship between the use of social media and ICT proficiency among secondary school teachers in Baghdad Karkh 2nd, Iraq

Social media is a growing phenomenon that is becoming more significant in academia and private lives. Looking at the conditions of school teachers in Iraq, being the users of social media, they are lack of ICT proficiency, which will lead to the creation of a new generation of ICT-ignorant students. In the research related to social media, social constructivism has been used frequently as a fundamental theory. Unfortunately, the relationship between the use of social media and ICT proficiency of the users had not been observed. Moreover, the previous research mostly focused on the higher education institutions and students as the object of the study. In recent reality, teachers are still having difficulties in using ICT tools, which means that there is a need to improve their ICT proficiency. To address these problems, this study seeks to examine the relationship between the use of social media and ICT proficiency among secondary school teachers in Iraq. To achieve research objectives, this study utilizes quantitative approach and a survey among Iraqi secondary school teachers. The findings demonstrate that using social media improved ICT proficiency among secondary school teachers in Iraq. The analysis and interpretation of this research can be applied to improve learning policies via the social media. This study concludes that the use of social media can enhance knowledge in working environments through interaction with peers, engagement and collaborative learning. This practice would have an impact in the improvement of the ICT proficiency among secondary school teachers in Iraq