School digitalization processes: impacts, routines and gaps in times of isolation

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the digitalization processes of two secondary schools in the city of Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz province, during the period of compulsory isolation, in a context crossed by the effects of the dynamics of digital communication. The pandemic implied an intensification of those correlations where technological devices had primacy in what made schooling.

The data collection for this research was carried out through three instances of intervention: student surveys, virtual conversations with students and teachers, and a training workshop for teachers. With this corpus we conducted a content analysis linking characteristics of the uses of digital tools with stories about the appropriation processes and the interpretations made by the school actors themselves. Among the main conclusions we highlight: a significant gap in access to digital tools as specific uses for teaching-learning tasks; a predominant use of WhatsApp as a structuring instrument of school dynamics where the priority of accessibility, interaction and speed is visible, and a state of fatigue and mental exhaustion of both teachers and students in front of digital routines, due to the lack of collective-institutional organization and the surrounding imperative of performance.