A relação de jovens com o saber: o uso de dispositivos móveis para aprender em uma escola profissionalizante do interior do Ceará

Abstract

The objective of this work was to understand the relationship young people have with knowledge through the use of mobile devices to learn inside and out of school, parting from the reality of a vocational school in the interior of Ceará. Therefore, we analyze the mobiles and the meanings(s) related to the communicative actions of these young people. The theoretical framework of this research embraced the concepts of the relationship with the knowledge, mobilization, activity and meanings brought by Charlot (2000, 2001, 2013) to understand what motivations, meanings and relationships these young people built with knowledge through the mobile devices, besides the concept of mobile learning (M-learning) from the formulations of Sharples et al. (2005; 2009), Traxler (2009) and Saccol, Schlemmer and Barbosa (2011). The qualitative research included actions of 35 young people who participated in the data collection through the application of the knowledge balance protocol (CHARLOT, 2000; 2001; 2013) and semi-structured interviews. The data collection work also included a participant observation period which lasted six months during which we observed a group in the WhatsApp application entitled "Nursing - 3rd year", with procedures for collecting screens, texts and images shared in the digital medium. The data analysis was guided by the ideal types of Weber (1979), in which we sought to map the relationship young people have with the knowledge obtained through the use of mobile devices. The results of the analysis revealed three ideal types of young people's relationship with knowledge through mobile devices: 1) appropriation of curricular contents or of essential learning that allow the development of skills and abilities throughout the formal process of Education, collaborating directly with curricular learning, and also with technical/professional strengthening; 2) free communication using information exchange, through conversations with colleagues, the content of these conversations not necessarily being about the contents of the school, but of various natures and 3) fruitful zapping, related to learning by transiting the Internet, accessing sites with broader and more diverse information, but which attract attention and to which they attach some importance or value. These results indicate that, as much as we presented the ideal types found in this research separately, in the context of the participants, they occurred in a complementary way, since they zap in the Web and can they can also obtain essential content for the school and the technical curriculum, with the sharing and exchanging of information, as well as build a relationship with learning through the use of mobile devices. The study concluded that young people, through mobile devices and their space/time alternatives, portability, mobility and information speediness, can achieve the required knowledge faster and more efficiently. In addition, they believe that they build their critical knowledge when they appropriate mobile devices for educational purposes, concluding that they are no longer mere technological tools to become an essential element of youth culture and learning.