Aprendizagem online na pandemia: o que os jovens fizeram para além da educação formal

Abstract

This study investigates how young people used information and communication technologies, along with the internet, to socialize, consume entertainment, find information and hobbies, and learn during the period of social isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, when schools suspended in-person meetings. To understand the daily use of digital media by young people, we adopted the cultural perspective of Jerome Bruner as our main theoretical framework, along with other readings that allowed us to reflect on how young people experience the virtuality of media. We understand that the formation of the mind occurs in a dialectic between the material and the symbolic, and that the representation of reality involves a set of symbols collectively shared. The aim of this investigation was to highlight the uses and activities practiced by young students through media and the internet. To this end, we constructed a 'mediography' of the online connection networks of the participants in digital media, developed in two stages: a) socioeconomic characterization of the participants through a questionnaire (Appendix A); b) conducting semi-structured interviews (Appendix B) that were recorded, transcribed, and subsequently analyzed. The results suggest that the pandemic affected students in different ways, depending on their personal and family contexts. All students faced difficulties in continuing remote learning, but also found opportunities for learning and personal development through the use of technology. The interviewees demonstrated autonomy and initiative in seeking ways to solve their problems and learn new skills with the help of the internet, even on topics unrelated to school education. The interviews also emphasize the lack of preparation of teachers to deal with the online environment as a crucial factor in student demotivation. Therefore, the widely held concern that young people "learned nothing during the pandemic" needs to be nuanced.