YOUTH AND ADULTS IN THE SCHOOLING PROCESS AND THE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract

Digital technologies form a scenario of changes in many spheres of society. The objective of this study is to investigate the existence of such technologies in youth and adult education, through the uses of technologies that students report and the relationship between these uses and the schooling process they experience. Thirty questionnaires were answered by young people and adults registered in adult education classrooms of public schools in the region of Freguesia do Ó and Brasilândia, in the northwest of São Paulo city, Brazil, and five of these students were interviewed afterwards. The results indicate that most students use digital technologies outside schools to communicate, have fun and to learn about topics related to their personal projects and cultural content of their interest. It is also possible to say that the appropriation of technologies, exploring its many possibilities for the implementation of individual and group projects, depends on prior knowledge learned at school. Without being literate, as an example, the ability to navigate through internet is compromised, and the more people are educated in school, the more they appropriate the digital technologies. The analysis of these results bring some recommendations to adult education projects, schools and public policies, to try to expand the uses of digital technologies for life-long learning of Brazilian youngsters and adults.

Keywords: youth and adult education; educational technology; ICT (information and communication technologies); life-long learning.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/19827199699