João Paiva

The use of information and communication technologies by portuguese teachers

We present a study made in Portugal, in 2001/2002, on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by teachers of all teaching levels (except high education), in both public and private schools. It was an initiative of the Ministry of Education (“Nonio — 21st Century” program), which was carried out by the Competence Centre “Softsciences” and the Centre for Computational Physics of the University of Coimbra. Some of the conclusions of this study, that has collected data from 19337 teachers, are the following: the majority of Portuguese teachers own a PC and approximately half of them use it in several activities, though their use of computers with students is limited. Primary school teachers use often the PC in their schools, though, probably, in an incipient way. The self-training of teachers in ICT is quite common. The Internet is more used by 3rd cycle (last part of middle school) and high school teachers, being most of its users male and young. These and other conclusions should be taken into account in a strategy towards incrementing a better use of new technologies in schools. The whole study is available in: http://nautilus.fid.uc.pt/cec/estudo

DESENVOLVIMENTO PROFISSIONAL E COOPERAÇÃO INTERNACIONAL PARA PROFESSORES DE QUÍMICA: AVALIAÇÃO DA INTENÇÃO DE MUDANÇA PEDAGÓGICA APÓS FORMAÇÃO CONTINUADA NO PORTO, PORTUGAL

This article assesses the intention of chemistry teachers to integrate digital media in their classes. The evaluation was performed using a structured questionnaire after participation in two professional development actions. The formative sessions were designed with the aim of training the chemistry teachers for pedagogical integration of digital media in teaching chemistry in high school. The participants were 25 chemistry teachers from different regions of Brazil, who were participating in an international cooperation program for the professional development of teachers in Portugal. Data collection was conducted through questionnaires containing questions about the motivations for innovation in education, attitudes and beliefs in relation to the training actions and face the pedagogical integration of digital media in the chemistry discipline. The data analysis shows a remarkable behavioral intention of adopting the media which is positively correlated with the attitudes and perceptions of control and negatively with subjective norm. These results suggest that interventions focused on technical and pedagogical training centered on subject content are suitable for the professional development of teachers.

Dinâmicas de inquiry no estudo de perturbações a um estado de equilíbrio químico

Educational institutions are not being effective, because they do not give individuals what they need to integrate into postmodern society, nor produce citizens that postmodern society needs. Shortcomings include the scientific literacy and cognitive domain levels attained, with an aggravating waning interest in science among pre-university students. We present an inquiry module, an inquiry dynamic, as an education resource for the study of perturbations of a chemical equilibrium state by pre-university or university students of basic chemistry, to contribute to the relevance and popularity of science, potentiation of science literacy and development of cognition. Here we describe an investigation with pre-university students.

Myths and Realities of E-Learning: Exploratory Survey of Higher Education Students

The present study seeks to become a positive contribution to the research and development of e-learning systems by conducting an exploratory evaluation of the opinions of the academic community of the University of Porto about various technical and social dimensions present in the conception and deployment of learning management systems, both in the context of supporting face-to-face education and as technical infrastructure to blended and distance learning programmes. A survey by questionnaire was applied to 504 members of the academic community at the university, and it was found that among the participants there is still great scepticism towards e-learning and technologically mediated education, especially among younger students. Participants also considered that learning management systems presenting a plethora of features are not as desirable as systems focused on providing a pleasant and consistent user experience.

Contribuições de Thomas Gordon para a sustentação de comunidades escolares em ambiente digital

Uma das vertentes de mudanca na educacao passa pela transformacao desta num processo de comunicacao autentico, aberto e franco. Nao so entre professores e alunos mas tambem incluindo todos os restantes intervenientes no processo educativo e os encarregados de educacao, muito em particular. So se aprende profundamente dentro de um contexto comunicacional participativo, interactivo e vivencial. As TIC podem, neste contexto, ser uma preciosa alavanca. Na comunicacao virtual, estabelecem-se comunidades de aprendizagem, sustentaveis por alguns pilares provenientes das ideias de Thomas Gordon. Este autor coloca de forma muito simples e operacional preceitos da inteligencia emocional e de psicologia humanista ao servico da educacao. As suas sugestoes foram depois estendidas a escola, tendo fornecido pistas interessantissimas para a “negociacao” afectiva entre alunos, professores e encarregados de educacao. Tal contexto pode favorecer a qualidade e quantidade de comunidades digitais em ambiente educativo.