Integrating values in information and communication technology. Categorization of values in teaching computer science

Author(s):

Gladys Merma Molina(presenting / submitting)Diego Gavilán Martín

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

11. Educational Improvement and Quality Assurance

Format:

Paper

Session Information

11 SES 03 A, Creative Innovation and Technology for the Quality of Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

17:15-18:45

Room:

B231 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Jana Poláchová Vaštatková

Contribution

For many years, information and communication technology (ICT) have revolutionized the world and are now part of our daily lives. Education has not been immune to the impact of ICT. These were introduced quickly in education, and its impact, especially in adolescents, is increasing. The youth of today's society live in a reality of constant change, contradictions and plurality of beliefs and values, technological advances, increasingly unstable family unit and an environment where the media transmit constantly violence.

ICTs provide a number of benefits to education, but their use also raises difficulties not only related to infrastructure, for example, the lack of computers or teacher education (Mooij & Smeets, 2001, OECD, 2003; Pelgrum, 2001), but also problems related to the values they convey.

The values are dynamic and historical realities, subject to changes in their ranking, hence being the same, they appear under different forms, modes and manifestations are different , depending on the culture and according to a particular historical moment (Nieto & González, 2002 , p. 24) therefore, they are oriented and integrated into the individual in terms of what this has internalized through socialization and are tied to feelings, attitudes, etc., which are manifested in behavior (Torrego & Moreno, 2007). This means that values are acquired and learned.

The school is an ideal context to teach values, so that the student develops, assertively, moral judgment, and adopt roles and cognitive functions in social interaction (Kohlberg, 1992, Bosello, 1999 & Cortés, 2004). This autonomy is associated as the moral condition to guide the conscience to act from "doing good by conviction and not by obligation", being acquired thus, maturity. Therefore, values education or contribute to the moral development of a person means favoring autonomous people. Teaching values is to guide the individual to choose freely, in its autonomy, those principles and rules that allow them to behave in a fair and caring towards others and himself.

In this paper, we propose the teaching of ICT from the reflection of ICT themselves (Coll & Montero, 2008). We start from the premise that they can have a positive and negative effect on the formation of values in adolescents (Farrell, 2012, p. 154), in coexistence and preventing violence generation (Ortega & Del Rey, 2004; Torrego & Moreno, 2007, p 87). Our research investigates the values that teachers think should be integrated into the subject of Informatics in Secondary Education in Spain, specifically in 1st, 2nd and 3rd courses. This study is not structured according to the knowledge that teachers should have on the various ICT tools or their inclusion in the curriculum, but in the formation of values through ICT. While the use of ICT involves the intervention of scientific knowledge and its application and resolution of technical problems still need to integrate the development of values to guide the use of technologies based on more human and social criteria.

Method

The focus of this study is mixed (quantitative and qualitative). The study is based on a survey design with a random sample stratified by educational level and province. The population is made up of schools in Valencia (Spain). The educational stage of sampling is Secondary Education. Regarding the types of centers, we have taken into account public, charter and private schools. The sample consisted of 1750 teachers in 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of Secondary Education. The survey was developed by the Research Group Indiscipline and Violence in Education, Faculty of Education, University of Alicante. It raised 28 items, all relating to different values. They were asked to teachers on which values they believe should be included in the teaching of computer science. The objective of the survey is to determine, from the voices of teachers, what attitudes are most relevant to teach in said subject. To reflect the valuation of the items, the Likert scale was used: Always be required (5), Should almost always be proposed (4) Sometimes, in any subject (3), Rarely, in a subject and freely (2), Should never be promoted at the center (1). Data were collected between the months of September 2013 and November 2014 and were transcribed and organized in the online platform of the research group. Subsequently, the analysis and interpretation was made. Statistical analyzes were performed in SPSS 11.5. The emphasis on the descriptive statistics is been made, in order to know the preferences of teachers, and cluster analysis by K -means technique to establish the relationship between values and the ICT teaching.

Expected Outcomes

The total average of the data collected, based on the Likert scale, is 4.2. This result is an indication that teachers do not believe that "always" should teach values in the subject of Computer Science in Secondary Education. This result is troubling because the absence or wrong choice thereof is the main cause of conflicts and crises, being violence one of its main manifestations (Peiró, 2009, p. 100). We also note that there were no significant differences detected in the different items. Some results are: the teachers consider that tolerance (4.69), respect (4.60), obedience (4.57), be careful (4.55) and class work and study (4.52) are values that should " almost always" proposed in the teaching of the Computer Science subject and also consider the effectiveness (3.52), the practice of one's religious beliefs (3.57), reflection (3.81), discretion (3.92 ) and sobriety (3.94) are the values that "rarely" should be taught in said subject. We agree with many researchers, when they claim that reflection is one of the most important values for conflict resolution, to improve relationships and preventing violence (Ortega & Del Rey & Fernández, 2003) Also we conclude ICT must learn from reflection. If it does not, you can become an instrument of ideological manipulation (Acosta, 2004) or a simple tool that seeks irrelevant information (De Pablos, 2000). Also draws our attention, the majority percentage of teachers (90.91%), which states that tolerance is the value that should "almost always" arise when the subject is taught Computer, and instead, few teachers show eflection and discretion as values that should be taught in this course (27 % and 9%, respectively).

References

Acosta, M. (2004). Tecnología y nuevas tecnologías de la comunicación: reflexiones desde una perspectiva histórica. Recuperado de http://www.ateneonline.net/datos/92_03_Acosta.pdf Bosello, A. P. (1999). Escuela y valores: la educación moral. Madrid: CCS. Coll, C. y Montero, C. (2008). Educación y aprendizaje en el siglo XXI: Nuevas herramientas, nuevos escenarios, nuevas finalidades. En C. Coll y C. Montero (Ed.). Psicología de la educación virtual (p. 19-53). Madrid: Morata. Cortés, M. P. (2004). Una mirada psicoeducativa a los valores: seminario aplicado a las nuevas tecnologías de la educación. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza. De Pablos, J. (2000). Nuevas tecnologías de la información y nuevas aplicaciones para la educación. Quaderns Digitals. Recuperado de http://www.quadernsdigital.net/index.php? accionMenu=hemeroteca.VisualizaArticuloIU.visualiza&articulo_id=286 Farell, G. E. (2012). Formación de valores mediante las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones. Revista Cubana de Informática Médica, 4(2), 154-160. Kohlberg, L. (1992). La psicología del desarrollo moral (vol2). Bilbao: Descleé de Brouwer. Mooij, T., & Smeets, E. (2001). Modelling and supporting ICT implementation in secondary schools. Computers & Education, 36, p. 265-281. Nieto, S. y González, J. (2002). Los valores en la literatura infantil. Un estudio empírico. Técnicas y procedimientos de análisis. Valladolid: Arial Editores. OECD, Education at a glance. Paris, France: OECD Press, (2003). Available at http://www.sourceoecd.org/data/cm/00011535/3603061.pdf Ortega, R.; Del Rey, R.; Fernández, I. (2003). Working together to prevent school violence. The Spanish response. En P. K. Smith, Violence in School: The Response in Europe. London: Routledge. Ortega, R. y Del Rey, R. (2004). Construir la convivencia. Barcelona: Edebé. Peiró, S. (2009). Valores educativos y convivencia. España: Club Universitario. Pelgrum, W. J. (2001). Obstacles to the integration of ICT in education: results from a worldwide educational assessment. Computers & Education, 3, p. 163-178. Torrego, J.; Moreno, J. (2007). Convivencia y disciplina en la escuela: el aprendizaje de la democracia. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

Author Information

Gladys Merma Molina (presenting / submitting)

University of Alicante, Spain

Diego Gavilán Martín

University of Alicante

General Didactics and Specifics Didactics

Alicante

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