The Portuguese Maritime Voyages of Discovery: the exploration of the history of a city with an App as an educational resource

Abstract

In this paper we present an evaluation of an App for mobile devices, ‘Roteiro dos Descobrimentos’, as an educational digital resource for primary school students. The study involved the participation of 131 students and eight teachers. Data were collected from participant observation, students’ questionnaires and interviews to students and teachers. According to students, they learned new things, related with the topics explored, in an easy and funny way. Students also emphasized as positive aspects the fact that they had to face different challenges and the need to mobilize their knowledge to solve them. Teachers referred that students showed great interest and enthusiasm during the activities. As main gains, teachers stressed that the application fosters the relationship of students with the city, facilitates collaboration, and promotes students’ autonomy. In resume, it seems that the playful and interactive dimension of the App promoted the development of important skills such as the ability to interact with the environment, collaborative work, autonomy, and reading and interpretation skills. As a conclusion, there is a great receptivity to integrate mobile technologies in the teaching and learning process, but the role of the teacher can’t be dismissed, as a mediator and educator.

Memoria histórica y apps para el desarrollo de la competencia social y cívica: efectos del Proyecto 1936 en el profesorado en formación inicial

“…Por otro lado, en línea con lo expuesto por Kortabitarte et al (2018) o Faria et al (2019, este estudio insinúa que la utilización de apps aumenta el interés y satisfacción del alumnado con el proceso de aprendizaje, ya que, tras la intervención, los participantes han declarado un mayor interés para el estudio de la historia. Esto puede deberse a que la app permite aproximarse de manera más tangible al escenario de los hechos históricos que se estudian y a una historia de la guerra civil más humana y vivida, contada por los protagonistas a través de testimonios, lo que facilita el desarrollo de la empatía histórica (Rüsen, 2013;Seixas, 2015).…”

“…En ese escenario de posibilidades de renovación didáctica, destacan las estrategias basadas en el uso de la tecnología digital y el mobile learning (Hylén, 2012), siendo las apps uno de los recursos que mayor interés han suscitado para su uso en entornos educativos (Luna et al, 2019). Uno de sus beneficios, relacionado con el uso de la memoria histórica, es que pueden acercarnos a testimonios orales o realidades espaciales que resultan abstractas y distantes, aumentando la motivación del alumnado (Kortabitarte et al, 2018;Faria et al, 2019). Por ello, el conocimiento y manejo de estos recursos ha sido postulado como un contenido que sería interesante integrar en la formación inicial docente (Ally et al, 2014;Baran, 2014).…”

A integração da tecnologia na educação básica e secundária em Portugal desde os anos 70 do século XX à contemporaneidade

“…Entre os textos analisados verifica-se uma tendência (28,6% dos textos) para relacionar as tecnologias quer com níveis de motivação e satisfação elevados (Barros et al, 2020;Gonçalves & Almeida, 2016;Faria et al, 2019), quer com aprendizagens mais eficazes (22,5% dos textos) (Santos & Alves, 2017).…”

COVID-19 Lessons: Experience in Organization of Distance Pre-school Education

“…With the improvement of new communication technologies, distance education may grant rich, authentic ecology of learning which may facilitate cooperation and inter-dependency of those who learn (Alphameric & Khan, 2016). But the type and the design of technological means and platforms, the pedagogic methods applied have direct impact on the quality and engagement in children's education (Faria et al, 2019). It should be noted, that if digital technologies are applied in smart and correct ways, they may ensure more individualised, more flexible and child-orientated education (Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027.…”