A utilização de LMS no ensino da matemática nas escolas do 3.º ciclo do ensino básico e do ensino secundário do Distrito de Vila Real: retrato da realidade atual
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2013
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As rápidas e constantes inovações tecnológicas que ocorrem atualmente têm um grande poder transformador sobre a sociedade em que vivemos. As nações que mais eficazmente se adaptarem às novas realidades serão as que mais hipóteses terão de expandir os seus horizontes rumo a um pleno desenvolvimento na era digital. Todavia, o êxito desse processo evolutivo depende, em larga escala, da educação enquanto fundação de uma sociedade sustentável, social e economicamente viável. Deste modo, no século XXI, a educação e a tecnologia já não podem ser dissociadas, uma vez que a necessidade de consolidação e atualização de conhecimentos nos acompanha ao longo de toda a vida. Esta inevitabilidade de uma aprendizagem, que vai para além de um período temporal e espaço físico fixos, acentua-se, cada vez mais, à medida que os avanços tecnológicos aceleram e se revelam fundamentais na formação de cidadãos capazes de participar numa economia globalizada e altamente tecnológica.
À semelhança do que tem acontecido um pouco por todo o mundo, também Portugal tem vindo a apostar na modernização tecnológica da escola, nomeadamente através da aprovação do Plano Tecnológico da Educação (PTE) em 2007, tendo implementado nos últimos anos um conjunto de medidas com o intuito de proporcionar as condições necessárias à integração das tecnologias no ensino e à preparação da população, em geral, para as exigências da sociedade atual. Neste âmbito, foi feita uma aposta clara nos Learning Management Systems (LMS) e, em particular, no Moodle, por serem plataformas catalisadoras da promoção e utilização de conteúdos digitais e, portanto, catalisadoras da alteração das práticas pedagógicas.
Com a realização desta dissertação, pretendeu investigar-se a forma como as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) têm sido introduzidas no sistema de ensino português e o modo como o Moodle é utilizado nas escolas com 3.o ciclo do ensino básico e/ou com ensino secundário do distrito de Vila Real, dando-se ainda destaque ao caso da disciplina de Matemática. Para tal, partindo de um enquadramento teórico da introdução das TIC no ensino em Portugal e da difusão e gestão dos conteúdos de aprendizagem, com base na revisão da literatura efetuada, foi elaborado um questionário cujos resultados demonstram que, no que diz respeito às escolas participantes no estudo, pouco ou nada mudou desde a adoção, a nível nacional, do Moodle. De facto, verificou-se que, tal como diagnosticado em 2008, esta plataforma não é utilizada na sua plenitude, uma vez que não são aproveitadas as suas potencialidades no campo de um processo de ensino e aprendizagem construtivista, interativo e colaborativo. Além disso, os fatores limitativos da sua utilização continuam a ser, essencialmente, a falta de competências dos professores para utilizar o Moodle conjugada com a pouca motivação para as adquirir.
Assim, é fundamental investir na formação dos docentes como meio de incentivo para a utilização dos LMS em prol da melhoria da qualidade de ensino. Para flexibilizar essa utilização dos LMS e fomentar a partilha de conteúdos entre eles, sugere-se a criação de um repositório de objetos de aprendizagem (ROA) que sejam compatíveis com o Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) e que possam ser reutilizados e adaptados pelos professores das diferentes áreas curriculares e anos de escolaridade. A possibilidade de reutilização destes recursos permitirá, não só promover a utilização de plataformas como o Moodle, mas também diminuir o esforço e tempo despendidos pelos professores na sua produção já que, quando muito, terão apenas de os adaptar às especificidades do seu contexto profissional. Deste modo, poderão preparar as suas aulas de uma forma mais eficiente, fortalecer a comunicação e colaboração entre pares, diversificar os métodos de abordagem e aprofundamento dos conteúdos letivos, tornando-os mais apelativos e adequados para os seus alunos, e, consequentemente, sintonizar o ensino com as exigências da sociedade atual.
Rapid and constant technological advances currently occurring have a great transformation potential in our society. A nation that is able to adapt itself to the new realities is more likely to experience a remarkable progress in the digital age. However, the success of this evolutionary process largely depends on education as the foundation of a sustainable and economically viable society. Therefore, in the XXI century, education and technology can no longer be separated, since the need to deepen and update knowledge follow us throughout life (lifelong learning). The inevitability of a learning that goes beyond a fixed time period and physical space significantly increases as the pace of technological development accelerates and reveals itself vital to improve education of citizens that are capable of participating in a highly technological and global economy. Similar to what has happened all over the world, Portugal has also been focused on the technological modernization of the school. Since the approval of the Plano Tecnológico da Educação (PTE), in 2007, several measures were implemented in order to promote the integration of technology in education and the preparation of the population, in general, for the demands of today’s society. In this context, the exploration of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and, in particular, of Moodle, was fostered as a mean of encouraging digital contents use and, consequently, as a way of renovating pedagogical models. In the following research, we sought to investigate how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been introduced in the Portuguese education system and how Moodle is used in Vila Real’s district basic (3rd cycle) and secondary schools, with a special emphasis on Mathematics. Starting from a theoretical framework about the introduction of ICT in education in Portugal and about the dissemination and management of learning contents, based on the reviewed literature, we designed a questionnaire whose results show that, regarding to the participating schools in the study, little or nothing has changed since the nationwide adoption of Moodle. In fact, we discovered that, just as diagnosed in 2008, this platform is not being used to reap the benefits of the constructivist, interactive and collaborative teaching and learning process. Furthermore, the lack of teachers’ skills to use Moodle, coupled with low motivation levels to acquire them, is still the main reason why they don’t use it more frequently. So, it is essential to invest in teachers’ training to encourage the use of LMS and to improve their teaching. The creation of a repository of learning objects, compatible with a standardization model like the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), and that can be reused and adapted by teachers from different grades and subjects, can facilitate the use of LMS and promote the interoperability of learning objects. The reusability of these resources enables, not only to incentive the use of learning environments such as Moodle, but also to reduce effort and time spent by teachers since they only have to customize learning objects to their professional specific needs. Thereby, teachers can be more efficient in preparing for the classes, strengthen communication and collaboration between peers, diversify teaching methods, making them more appealing and significant for students, and, therefore, they will be able to suit current society needs using education.
Rapid and constant technological advances currently occurring have a great transformation potential in our society. A nation that is able to adapt itself to the new realities is more likely to experience a remarkable progress in the digital age. However, the success of this evolutionary process largely depends on education as the foundation of a sustainable and economically viable society. Therefore, in the XXI century, education and technology can no longer be separated, since the need to deepen and update knowledge follow us throughout life (lifelong learning). The inevitability of a learning that goes beyond a fixed time period and physical space significantly increases as the pace of technological development accelerates and reveals itself vital to improve education of citizens that are capable of participating in a highly technological and global economy. Similar to what has happened all over the world, Portugal has also been focused on the technological modernization of the school. Since the approval of the Plano Tecnológico da Educação (PTE), in 2007, several measures were implemented in order to promote the integration of technology in education and the preparation of the population, in general, for the demands of today’s society. In this context, the exploration of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and, in particular, of Moodle, was fostered as a mean of encouraging digital contents use and, consequently, as a way of renovating pedagogical models. In the following research, we sought to investigate how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been introduced in the Portuguese education system and how Moodle is used in Vila Real’s district basic (3rd cycle) and secondary schools, with a special emphasis on Mathematics. Starting from a theoretical framework about the introduction of ICT in education in Portugal and about the dissemination and management of learning contents, based on the reviewed literature, we designed a questionnaire whose results show that, regarding to the participating schools in the study, little or nothing has changed since the nationwide adoption of Moodle. In fact, we discovered that, just as diagnosed in 2008, this platform is not being used to reap the benefits of the constructivist, interactive and collaborative teaching and learning process. Furthermore, the lack of teachers’ skills to use Moodle, coupled with low motivation levels to acquire them, is still the main reason why they don’t use it more frequently. So, it is essential to invest in teachers’ training to encourage the use of LMS and to improve their teaching. The creation of a repository of learning objects, compatible with a standardization model like the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), and that can be reused and adapted by teachers from different grades and subjects, can facilitate the use of LMS and promote the interoperability of learning objects. The reusability of these resources enables, not only to incentive the use of learning environments such as Moodle, but also to reduce effort and time spent by teachers since they only have to customize learning objects to their professional specific needs. Thereby, teachers can be more efficient in preparing for the classes, strengthen communication and collaboration between peers, diversify teaching methods, making them more appealing and significant for students, and, therefore, they will be able to suit current society needs using education.
Descrição
Dissertação de Mestrado em Ciências da Educação, Área de Especialização em Comunicação e Tecnologia Educativas
Palavras-chave
Matemática , Ensino , Tecnologias , LMS , SCORM , TIC , Moodle , PTE