Smartphones, photo-elicitation and teacher professional development in the digital transformation of universities

Abstract

In the study reported in this article, the gaze of university students to the teaching practice through their Smartphone is the protagonist of the permanent training of their teachers. Specifically, the motivations that lead them to take photographs are analyzed, as well as the functionality assigned to their mobiles. Both the intentions and the functions are not visible, they are internal, intimate mental processes, which must be accessed with qualitative techniques. For this, a multiple case study has been carried out. Photo-elicitation has been the main information gathering procedure. The categories that contain the results have emerged from the data. It concludes by showing as the main motivation the recording of moments of teaching-learning processes related to the contents, or with the tasks, among others, that were something special, extraordinary, for the students (according to their meaning, feelings of surprise or affected). The photographed moments were important for the students to evaluate their teachers. Mobile phones have had a double function: creating images to represent ideas or sensations and, also, reproducing them through the screen to be able to analyze their content, reflect and debate on the meaning and its relevance in the professional development of teachers and in student learning. Both functions, supported by photo-elicitation processes and promoting innovative training situations, have been shown to be relevant for a quality university digital transformation.