As an educational psychologist, I was asked to work with a 8th grade class, which had severe discipline issues. This was the starting point of the project.
This project was based on my research "Youth, mobile phones and school" and literature review on this subject. The main idea is to use mobile phones as a trigger to engage these young students in formal learning. The strategy was to build on their enthusiasm in informal activities, to use their digital practices and networked communication skills and to use mobile phones affordance to cross boundaries. The strategy was based on problem-based learning in the context of a collaborative project work.
The assignment proposal was to produce a web-based report using records made with mobile phones during their daily routines at school.
The project analysis focused on different aspects, such as: teamwork, selection and reflection on the relevance of the records made, assembly of the selected records, comments on records published, and analysis on their attitude change towards school, and the impact on their behaviour. School and students The school Escola Secundária Sebastião da Gama is located in Setúbal, Potugal.
It has classes of the 3rd level of basic education and of the secondary education.
The 8th grade is the second year of the 3rd level of basic education.
The class was composed of fourteen students, nine boys and five girls aged from 15 to 17, who had accumulated several years of unsuccessful school experience.
Period
From January to May 2009
One session of 1 hour per week with the class
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