Digital technologies, teacher training and teaching practices

Abstract

This article presents the research results involving teacher training in the era of cyberculture and its interrelation with knowledge, skills and attitudes by teachers in an educational context influenced by the use of Digital Technologies (DTs). The discussion advanced here results from a qualitative investigation, consisting of a case study, with data collected from semi-structured interviews with teachers of courses with a hybrid approach, in the setting of a non-profit university in the south of Brazil. To analyze the data, we used a methodology associated to discourse textual analysis. This investigation provided an understanding of the competencies evidenced by teachers who engage in good teaching practices with DTs, resulting in elements that allow us to reflect on planning educational actions in the scope of the academic/professional development of working professors. Four major competencies were identified as the object of reflection: digital fluency, teaching practice, planning and pedagogical intervention. In this article, we discuss the developments of digital fluency, for understanding its contribution to teachers that wish to use/create teaching practices with DTs, based on their experiences and those of their peers. The subjects interviewed in this study demonstrated a heightened level of familiarity regarding the use of technologies, but had limited training with respect to their didactic-methodological aspects. The results provided us with indicators to reflect on the organization of strategically-prepared training spaces so that the faculty can experiment, test, discuss and exchange experiences regarding teaching activities to include in their practices with the use of DTs.