Smartphone and instagram: allies of the periodic table teaching

Abstract

Abstract

This text presents an excerpt from a dissertation whose general objective was  to understand how Convergence Culture (JENKINS, 2009), through a didactic sequence (SD), can contribute to the insertion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching the periodic table. With the help of smartphones and social networks, the research – with a qualitative and descriptive approach (MINAYO, 2001; PRODANOV & FREITAS, 2013) and the type of research on practice (PONTE, 2002) – was developed with 9th grade  elementary school students of a public educational institution over seven meetings. In this section, we present the activities developed in the 4th and 5th meeting with the students: the Image Contest, through Instagram, for the preparation of a Giant Periodic Table. From the records written by the students, the observations made by the teacher/researcher and the materials collected through social networks in order to verify the contributions of SD, we analyzed two aspects: the role assumed by the teacher/researcher and how meaningful learning was processed – through reception and/or discovery (AUSUBEL, 1963, 2003). In view of the results obtained, we verified that Convergence Culture — in particular, the participatory culture — applied to the teaching of the Periodic Table contributes to encourage the teacher to assume the role of facilitator, supervisor and mediator in the teaching-learning process; furthermore, it is expected that the educator promotes situations where meaningful learning takes place through discovery, seeking support in solidified subunits in students' cognitive structures.

Keywords: Information and communication technologies. Convergence culture. Smartphone. Social networks. Periodic table teaching.