Affectability in educational technologies: A socio-technical perspective for design

Hayashi, Baranauskas (2013) states that digital artifacts have the potential for augmenting the interest of students and the quality of learning environments. However, it is still common to find technology being inserted in learning settings without a closer connection to the learners’ contemporary world. This statement was the result of the evaluation of the socio-technical project OLPC implemented in Brazil.

A socio-technical project is a type of project intended to social welfare, so that the profitability of the project is not only economic, but also the impact generated by the project in improving the social welfare in the group benefited or performing area. In the case reported by Hayashi, Baranauskas (2013), a positive impact in the teaching-learning community was expected from the inclusion of low cost personal laptops and using informal settings as local teaching strategies.

One of the challenges educational technology faces nowadays is to enrich the formal learning settings while maintaining a closer connection to the learners’ informal contemporary world. In this paper we brought to discussion the understanding of Information Systems’ formal, informal and technical layers of a framework, which may contribute to more holistic view of digital technology use in education. (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013)

Schools can use ICT to strengthen integration, curriculum and culture, and become an expanded, inclusive and integrated into other contexts of formal or informal training space. Mere use of a technological innovation is no guarantee of creating educational innovation, which emerges when the school and educators are free to connect ideas, new concepts and ways of doing education, they can go beyond the preset, go its walls, seek external partnerships and daring experimentation, reflection and change.

Children must not only own the laptop, but take them to their homes. In doing so, the whole family benefits. The project have shown unequivocally that parents become more involved in the education of their children and, very often, learn to use the laptops themselves. The role of the individual in society changes; It is a more productive role. The child is not the object of change but the agent of change.

ICT has played an important insight into educational systems. Its inclusion has been proposed to support the improvement in the quality of education, make it more relevant to the demands and requirements of the XXI century and to develop practices restarted teachers and students.

Some issues have hindered the integration of XO computers in the classroom, the teachers interviewed reported by institutional level relate to technical problems and immediate support (at the time the problem occurs), lack of training, lack of time, poor quality of computer components, improper maintenance and inappropriate hardware and educational software. 

The project conclusions found a positive effect of the OLPC program in terms of student motivation, increased teacher-student, and increased responsibility for attending school, opportunities for autonomy and independence interaction.

Considering the opportunities and limitations, a major concern remains the preparation of teachers, especially those related to the transition that should make using the computer for repetitive practices towards a more integrated approach to the school curriculum.

References

Hayashi, E. S., & Baranauskas, M. C. (2013). Affectability in educational technologies: A socio-technical perspective for design. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 57–68.