The purpose of this study was to explore the practices of formal and informal teacher technologists in two school settings: an elite private, high school academy and an urban poor, middle school academy. This investigation included clarifying the role of the formal and informal teacher technologist and investigating the need for both formal and informal teacher technologists. This study also explored the technological differences between the public academy middle school and the private academy high school. Two formal and eight informal teacher technologists were interviewed face-to-face three times, each using the transcendental phenomenology research design. Each teacher technologist was also observed at least once in classroom and teacher training sessions. The results of this study revealed (1) the role of the teacher technologist was a fast technology problem solver; and (2) although students and teachers used technology, the schools lagged in adequate technology and/or teacher training; (3) the teacher technologists used the Internet to build and evaluate curriculum; (4) most students used tool software centered around project-based activities; (5) teacher technologists trained other teachers to be collaborative risk-takers in using technology; (6) teacher technologists shared what they learn with students and other teachers; and (7) students could be student-learners or student-teachers and teachers could be teacher-learners. Four conclusions were reached: technology and constructivist teaching are compatible; technology is a tool; new approaches to professional development are needed; and hardware and software should be standardized for maximum use. Additionally, both schools in this study were evolving the role of the formal teacher technologist. It was recommended that (1) the schools employ at least one fulltime formal teacher technologist whose main role is to assist teachers in technology classroom incorporation, (2) the schools form teams of informal teacher technologists, (3) and the public middle school academy purchase one laptop for each student to use anytime, anywhere.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:35:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 120847.pdf: 1348771 bytes, checksum: 66ec4dc67ddf6da1dc5ef4c55cb72317 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-28 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This study has investigated the perceptions of Elementary and Middle School students about the educational laptop in four schools in the cities of Agrolândia, São Bonifácio, Brusque and Florianópolis, which participated in the project Aulas Conectadas? Mudanças Curriculares e Aprendizagem Colaborativa Entre as Escolas do Projeto UCA em Santa Catarina ( Interconnected Classes? Curriculum Changes and Collaborative Learning among the Schools of the UCA Project in Santa Catarina ). The research was also developed with the support of the Project Tablets, computadores e Laptops ( Tablets, Computers and Laptops ), which is subsidized with resources of OBEDUC ( Observatório da Educação ), Education Observatory, CAPES. The objective of the research was to investigate the perceptions of students about the educational laptop and, based on these observations, to reflect about the introduction of technology in the classroom. In order to achieve the objectives, questionnaires were submitted to 4th and 5th grade students of the schools above mentioned and also collective interviews were carried out with the students in each of the schools. Observation of the use of the laptops in the classroom as well as during free time, break time and before the beginning of the classes was also carried out. The research showed the use that was most commonly indicated by the students was related to fun and entertainment, especially games, but Facebook was also frequently mentioned. The use of laptop to do research and homework is also pointed out by the students, but less frequently. In general, the research shows that the educational laptop is seen in a favorable way by most of the students who were part of the research, however, there were unfavorable opinions, especially among the students who have easy access to other kinds of digital technology. Besides, the research also shows similarities and differences among the students. The similarities are related to the games, for the games mentioned by the students of the different schools are basically the same. The differences are rather related to the possibilities of access to digital technology, as well as to the need of learning about its use. / O trabalho investigou as percepções dos alunos do Ensino Fundamental sobre o laptop educacional em quatro escolas localizadas nos municípios de Agrolândia, São Bonifácio, Brusque e Florianópolis, participantes do projeto Aulas Conectadas? Mudanças Curriculares e Aprendizagem Colaborativa Entre as Escolas do Projeto UCA em Santa Catarina . A pesquisa também foi desenvolvida no amparo do Projeto Tablets, computadores e Laptops , subsidiada com recursos do OBEDUC, observatório da Educação, CAPES. O objetivo da pesquisa foi investigar as percepções dos alunos sobre o laptop educacional e a partir destas percepções refletir sobre a inserção de tecnologias na sala de aula. Para alcançar os objetivos foram aplicados questionários nas turmas dos 4ºs e do 5ºs das escolas mencionadas e, também, foram realizadas entrevistas coletivas com os alunos em cada uma destas escolas. Foram realizadas, em caráter complementar, observações do uso do laptop, tanto em sala de aula, como nos momentos livres, recreio e antes do início das aulas. A investigação nos mostrou que os usos mais apontados pelos alunos estão ligados à diversão e ao entretenimento, principalmente, os jogos, mas também foi muito citado o uso do Facebook. O uso do laptop para fazer pesquisa e trabalhos escolares, também, é apontado nas falas dos alunos, porém em menor intensidade. De forma geral, a pesquisa aponta que o laptop educacional é visto de maneira apreciativa pela maioria dos alunos participantes, porém também temos opiniões contrárias, principalmente, entre os alunos que tem fácil acesso a outras tecnologias digitais. Para além disso, a pesquisa evidencia, também, similaridades e diferenças entre os alunos. As semelhanças estão ligadas aos jogos, basicamente os mesmos são citados entre os alunos das diferentes escolas. Já as diferenças estão mais ligadas às possibilidades de acessos às tecnologias digitais e, também, foram visualizadas em relação à necessidade de aprendizagens relacionadas aos usos das tecnologias digitais.