| Resum: |
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated digital inequalities and brought new attention to the digital divide, which has become a criticaltopic for social justice. In the context of school closures, along with more traditional methods of distance learning, emerging technologies like mobile phones and the accessibility of certain platforms, like WhatsApp, filled the immediate need to serve as a primary teaching and learning tool. Albeit WhatsApp had already been used in different contexts as a supporting tool for learning, this was the first time WhatsApp became the classroom. Considering that potentially learning will move to a hybrid space in the near future -given the escalation of the climate crisis and ongoing conflicts worldwide -it be comes necessary to understand how the distance education process unfolds in vulnerable contexts, what is the student experience with this type of learning, and what learning culture is fostered under determined conditions of access. The lack of consideration of these aspects could increase education inequalities which will, of course, impact vulnerable students the most. Following aconstructivist approach, I designed a qualitative single case study using focus groups, emoji-elicitation techniques,and in-depth interviews. Using a quasi-participatory approach, I worked with a purposeful sample of 22 female secondary school students from rural backgrounds in the southern Peruvian Andes. Using a learning cultures framework and the concept of the digital divide, especially its type of technology determinant, I sought to describe the features of the WhatsApp classroom and how this learning culture was expressed in the actions, emotions and learning of female students from vulnerable backgrounds. The learning cultures framework allowed the exploration of what types of learning were made possible and which were impossible in the WhatsApp learning culture. Seemingly, a WhatsApp learning culture will allow for the retention of students and for them to feel safer and thus more eager to communicate and participate. At the same time, the configuration of the learning culture will disallow the interaction between actors (peers and teachers), the possibility of asking questions in an appropriate time frame and the in-depth comprehension of subjects, impacting significant learning. Following the main discussions, a small section is devoted to thinking beyond the walls of the WhatsApp classroom and into the potential other applications and configurations using the same device might have in aiding learning. |
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identificació
dir. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Sociologia)
