O limite do caos no uso de netbooks em aulas de inglês à luz da complexidade

Abstract

Rapid technological development and the emerging necessity to insert this reality in the school environment demand Brazilian government\'s efforts to develop new educational policies. One of the latest initiatives is the One Computer per Student Program (PROUCA), whose goal is to provide a netbook for each student of some selected schools. This research aims to analyze what kind of influence is exerted by these netbooks in English classes of elementary school, from a regular public school of Uberaba/MG. This is a qualitative ethnographic research, guided by the Paradigm of Complexity and theories on the process of language teaching and learning mediated by technology. Participants are students from two classes of sixth grade and three classes of eighth grade, two English teachers, the school principal and the director of the Department of Information and Communication Technology from Uberaba s Board of Education. Data were collected through argumentative texts produced by the students and the English teachers, besides semi-structured interviews performed with some selected students and with the mentioned directors and field notes. The generated results show that students perceive the use of netbooks as a positive aspect in English classes, but they point out the problems with the Internet link as one of the main weaknesses of the program. These inconveniences let students become demotivated and demand preparation and creativity for teachers to deal with a system on the edge of chaos. In addition, the data reflect the possibility to develop dynamic, fun and productive classes without the use of digital technologies. Motivation to learn depends, essentially, on the pedagogy adopted by the teacher to conduct their classes.