O software Publisher como ferramenta pedagógica: uma proposta para viabilização do letramento digital

Abstract

We understand the language as a process and interaction and literacies as contextualized processes that comprise the social practices of reading and writing various types of text. We argue that the school should contribute to the development of this literacy in its daily teaching practice, taking into account the educational needs of the contemporary world, immersed in a digital culture. Considering the issue of liability granted to school and to promote a digital literacy process, we build a problem axis that directed the methodological procedures of this research: how to favor students of the 5th year of elementary school, at a public school in the city of Campina Grande, with the viability of digital literacy? From this research question, we developed a methodology to find a possible answer and / or solution to this question. We decided to do a qualitative research of applied nature and explanatory type which was designed as action research. The instruments used for data collection were a questionnaire probing, with participant observation, video and audio recordings of the meetings and a question made to the students at the end of the survey. The goal was to use the Publisher software as a pedagogical tool for making the digital leaflet, with the students of the 5th year of elementary school, at a public school in Campina Grande, State of Paraiba, and consider whether this action contributed to enabling the digital literacy of the class. To support the discussion, we sought theoretical basis of authors such as: Koch (2006) and Travaglia (2008) on language and interaction; Street (1984, 2014), Kleiman (2005, 2012), Aranha (2008, 2011), Rojo (2012) and Soares (2009, 2012), about literacies; Lévy (1993, 1999) and Xavier on technologies; Braga & Ricarte (2005) and Palfrey & Gasser (2011), about digital natives and digital literacy. The proposal is not intended to be a digital revolution in school, or even the substitution of a new literacy for another, but we seek to promote access to knowledge that would enable the development of new skills, and, through these, students would have the will and autonomy to perform their reading and writing skills in digital media in various social contexts, beyond the school environment. We understand that the proposal contributed to enabling digital literacy, thus responding to the research question that started this work, proving the hypothesis: "Using the Publisher software as a pedagogical tool in the making of a digital leaflet enables the digital literacy process for students of the 5th year of elementary school I". To share this experience with other educators and people who are interested, we have created a Digital Guide with guidelines for teachers who wish to make a similar or identical proposal for their courses, adapting it to the context, providing opportunities for other students to experience the use of a software application as a pedagogical tool.