Child-teacher-computer: interactive and social possibilities in classroom

Abstract

This article discusses the computer’s usage in elementary schools, looking for the theoretical support in studies carried out between 1991 the 2004 in the educational field. It starts from the perception that the use of the computer is part of most children’s social reality, as it can be described as an object of many technological resources, as multimedia (sound, image, and text), instant messenger, information virtuality, internet and others. Therefore could mean for the education a useful pedagogic tool to the service of teachinglearning. The main goal of this work it is to get to know, through a bibliographical research, the use of the computer in the classroom for the teacher and the children, investigating which interactive and social possibilities happens from that partnership. The results suggest that the strategies of computer’s usage should be defined according to the objectives of the pedagogic intervention. They indicate that the use of the computer should be understood by the teachers as one more pedagogic resource to support educational practices. They emphasize that the professionals of the elementary school should no more then operating a computer and its programs but above all they should know what the children think and how they learn, building knowledge and understanding their development process. They consider important that any object of learning be integrated in a project bearer of countless meanings for the child and the teacher, both in the interactive and social situation of being constantly learning. Keywords: Child. Teacher. Computer. Social interaction. Classroom.