Digital technologies in the school context: A bibliometric study on its uses, opportunities and weaknesses

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/19827199658

When criticality is intended to pervade the use of new telematic artifacts, it is necessary to understand them not only in their technical aspects, but also in their political entirety. The purpose of this study is to investigate, through bibliometric analysis, the importance given to the relationship between digital technologies in the classroom in the past decade, more precisely between 2000 and 2012, based on academic research at doctoral level in eight renowned Brazilian graduate programs in education. Through the creation of three topics with detailed focus on one of them, we tried to understand whether there was progress, setback, or paradigm shift, adopting the argument that digital technology is not intrinsically good or bad, because this qualification will depend on how this it will be used. In the final part of this study, we make considerations that allow us to affirm that criticality with respect to how digital technologies are used in the classroom is noted in all the dissertations analyzed, highlighting the concern for interaction between students, teachers, and these new tools. In short, at least regarding academic research, there is a positive view on the insertion of Digital Information and Communication Technologies - DICT in Brazilian schools, but caution should be observed so that they are used interactively.

Keywords: Education, Digital technology, Elementary education system.