THE CHALLENGE OF LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL AGE. AN ANALYSIS OF THE DER (School textbook, Portuguese Language, 12th year)

Resumo

With increasing frequency, students and teachers use the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to search, communicate and/ or interact. Nowadays, the use of paper, pen and of the traditional school textbook is complemented by digital educational resources (DER). In fact, since 2010, the latest editorial Portuguese projects (school textbooks) are representative of this challenge that indicates there is a (re)confi guration of the process of acquisition of knowledge (students), as well as of the methods and strategies outlined by teachers.On the other hand, the challenge of using DER in learning contexts, which complete the current multimedia school textbooks, puts us questions about the function(s) and role(s) of the student’s academic learning construction. Thus, we developed a study for the evaluation of the DER proposed in a textbook of the Portuguese Language (12th grade) that occupied the 5th position of the national chart selection, in 2012. The study was conducted by means of a qualitative approach, in two secondary schools in the region of ‘Grande Lisboa’ with a sample around 100 students in the 12th grade (High School), who worked with that text book during the school year 2013.The data collection instrument was an on-line questionnaire survey. And, as Colland Marti (2004), stress, different technological resources mobilize cognitive processes differentiated by promoting and encouraging the development of new skills, competencies and knowledge. So, we pose the following interrogations: Does the use of DER promote proactive behaviors? Do DER motivate and contribute to the consolidation/ systematization of the students’ acquisition of knowledge? Are DER of quality? Do those resources provide pedagogical information, thus generating research in other sources of knowledge?Throughout this study we intend to listen to the main users of the textbook and assess its reception of the DER, thus optimizing a pedagogical better implementation.Key-words: DER. Educational Technologies. School Text books. Didactics.