Smart Education as Empowerment: Outlining Veteran Teachers’ Training to Promote Digital Migration

Abstract

Within the enhancement of technology and its ongoing integration into formal education setting, learning environments have been challenged to operationalize and arrange systems that engage pedagogy and technology together. The nature of this ongoing transformation is closely related to the paradigms that reign in the twenty-first century, in a scenario of what is now called a Fourth Industrial Revolution. School, despite losing its monopoly on knowledge diffusion, still plays a central role in educating new generations, therefore, it holds key responsibility in addressing contemporary logics of learning, living and becoming a citizen. Amidst the course of change and the ultimate calls for innovation in education, we encounter veteran teachers, professionals with a long teaching history, whose challenges include becoming familiar with new devices in order to fulfil their work demands. In this article, we then explore how central veteran teachers are for the progression to a smarter education scenario, through debating a training carried out in Portugal with 38 teachers from pre-school and k-12, aimed at promoting their digital migration. Data strengthen ties regarding teachers' perceptions and attitudes in relation to technology and consequent resource on it as pedagogical tools. Also, the overall discussion of the training provides clues on how teacher-oriented actions might address their identity if meaningful output is desired, in order to support a real change of practice.

Tecnologias móveis como estratégia de desenvolvimento e (re)encantamento profissional docente

“…Os avanços mais recentes no domínio tecnológico e sua ligação à educação deram origem ao que, atualmente, se designa como educação inteligente (smart education) (Morgado et al, 2021), cuja definição, ainda em curso, remete para a utilização no sistema educativo de ferramentas inteligentes, com emprego das mais recentes tecnologias da informação e comunicação, com o propósito de interligar os processos de ensino e aprendizagem (Daniela, 2019;Dron, 2018). Em causa, prevalece uma vez mais a possibilidade de utilizar os recursos tecnológicos para potenciar o sucesso académico dos estudantes, recorrendo, predominantemente, a abordagens pedagógicas centradas nos estudantes (Gros, 2016;Lister, 2018), de acordo com os princípios de uma ação contextualizada, personalizada, omnipresente e colaborativa (Kearney et al, 2019;Zhu et al, 2016).…”

“…No total, concluíram as ações de formação 65 professores (52 mulheres e 13 homens). A média de idades dos participantes era de 55 anos e o seu tempo médio de exercício profissional era de 28 anos, podendo assim serem considerados como professores veteranos (Morgado et al, 2021;Admiraal et al, 2019;Carrilo & Flores, 2018). Acerca destes professores, interessa, ainda, referir que eram oriundos de todos os níveis de ensino que integram a escolaridade obrigatória, isto é, desde o primeiro ciclo do ensino básico até ao ensino secundário.…”

“…O domínio do conhecimento pedagógico, reconhecido como um importante referente na formação inicial, justifica-se pela sua ação (prolongada) no terreno. Assim, os professores veteranos veem a sua idade e a sua experiência profissional como aliados e não como um obstáculo (Morgado et al, 2021). Esta confiança é corroborada pelo discurso dos professores que participaram na segunda ação de formação, com uma especificidade -o domínio da tecnologia passou de mera 'opção' para uma situação de 'obrigação', sobretudo por causa da crise pandémica.…”

Scholarly discourse of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and education in Botswana: a scoping review

“…Similarly, Uleanya and Yu (2019) conducted a conceptual study on the preparedness of rural African communities for the fourth industrial revolution, the finding of the study showed that African countries are unprepared for the revolution, rather focus is on subjects of decolonization, decoloniality, among others. The study conducted in Portugal by Morgado et al, ( 2021 ) on smart education as a tool for empowerment suggests the need for training in preparing teachers for the 4IR. The study indicates that there is need for veteran teachers to be well equipped through training for teaching in the time of the fourth industrial revolution.…”

Health Issues with Learning to Use Smart Devices in the Digital Age: Using a Grounded Theory Approach

“…Children who were born in the digital era think of the Internet and digital devices as part of their natural environment and are called "digital natives" [10]. It is natural for digital natives to apply and utilize smart learning over the course of their education [6,7,[11][12][13]; however, it is necessary to carefully examine the potential health side effects of smart learning before state-of-the-art technology is applied in the field of education [8,14]. In particular, the biggest concern for teenagers is health problems that can result from increased use of computers and smartphones [6,8,15].…”