Tecnologias digitais de informação e comunicação no ensino da odontologia: Percepção discente na pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

The measures of social distancing, necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19, have generated significant changes in the daily lives of people worldwide. In the educational sphere, these measures have resulted in the shift from in-person teaching activities to remote teaching, mediated by the use of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICT). The study aimed to understand the implications on student learning through the use of DICT and the chosen methodological approach in remote higher education teaching and learning. It is a qualitative study, supported by thematic and descriptive analysis. The Focus Group technique and a supplementary semi-structured questionnaire were used. The participants, intentionally selected to participate in the study, were 15 student representatives and vice-representatives from a public dentistry course. Of the respondents (n = 11; 73.3%), (n = 07; 63.6%) participated in the Focus Group technique. A profile with predictable sociodemographic and economic characteristics was identified for students entering public universities (medium to high socioeconomic level), with the majority being female, single, white ethnicity, young between 21 and 25 years old, living with their parents and/or relatives, with a family income between four and five minimum wages, and not responsible for supporting the family. Among the potentialities of DICT, the continuity of educational activities (enabled by remote teaching), access to new digital devices, dynamic and facilitating learning, including recorded classes, allowing access and review at opportune moments, and optimistic/confident student self-assessment of their involvement in synchronous/asynchronous activities. The weaknesses were concentrated in the difficulties faced by students in the absence of in-person contact with their peers, distraction in remote activities, omnipresent work, inappropriate study environment, impersonal and shared with the family, and insufficient digital access (connectivity, slow internet, and handling of teaching platforms). On the other hand, the vulnerabilities of the teacher-student relationship fell on the lack of proactivity, inexperience in teacher preparation, and students' apprehension of online classes and active and digital methods compared to the appropriation of technological resources (already customary for young academics). There are agreements and disagreements about the implications of DICT/teaching method, in this paradox, they recognize the dependence of interconnected learning on the characteristics of the teacher (active and dialogical) and the method used, with a preference for synchronous classes, initiated by group activities/problem-solving (followed or interspersed with teacher exposition). They point towards hybrid teaching, with reservations and recognition of the sovereignty of face-to-face instruction over remote instruction (in this equation), through an empathetic, humane, and respectful teacher.