1. Eliana Ulhôa Godoy Colégio Logosófico González Pecotche, Belo Horizonte, MG (BRAZIL) Dácio Guimarães de Moura Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica, Belo Horizonte, MG (BRAZIL) Eduardo Fernandes Barbosa Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG (BRAZIL) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION THROUGH THE PROJECT METHOD

2. Inclusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education The inclusion of Information and Communication Technologies in educational processes is a challenge for schools and teachers Many studies are favorable to the implementation of ICT in the learning environment, but an open question is “How to introduce ICT with efficiency and effectiveness in the educational context?” We still face many problems and questions regarding the use of ICT in the teaching and learning processes The Project Method (PM) appears as a proposal with great potential to contribute to the inclusion of ICT in schools. 2

3. Six ways of using ICT in Education 1.ICT as an instructional tool. The technology used as teaching tools, such as: electronic textbooks; multimedia tutorials; Internet searching; computer- aided instruction, etc. Without the proper preparation of content and methodology, the technology used as a teaching tool may be innocuous. 2.ICT as resource for the student's cognitive development. The use of technology to allow students to experience situations in which they can build and develop skills such as: problem solving, developing of concepts; critical thinking, selection and analysis of information, etc. 3.ICT as a preparation for the job market and meeting the needs of everyday life. Also known as "information literacy", which makes possible to understand and make efficient use of new technologies in everyday life. The inclusion of ICT in the schools' routines contributes to enlarge the ability of the students to act efficiently in productive processes in the future. 3

4. Six ways of using ICT in Education (cont.) 4.ICT as a motivation factor and ludic engagement. This use is associated with the desire to make the teaching and learning process more enjoyable and stimulating, such as: the use of games, entertainment sites, multimedia, social networking sites and others ways that provide the link between the school and the student life. 5.ICT as part of social inclusion. The use of technology in school as a way to bring to the economically disadvantaged communities the opportunity of free access to ICTs and the possibility of being technologically literate. 6.ICT as part of current culture. This form refers to the use of technology as part of the current culture, which directly affects the way of living. Therefore, it is part of everyday life and influences the school environment. 4

5. Five problems associated to the use of ICT in Education 1.Social Isolation. This problem arises when the individual uses the Internet intensively, maintaining relations only on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and others, increasing the lack of interest on personal contact in favor of online communities. 2.Information Overload. A problem that occurs due to the excessive exposure to huge amount of information stored in electronic media with a volume of data much higher than the human capacity to absorb it. 3.Social Exclusion. This problem refers to the presence of social groups with a lower level of education and often marginalized, showing little skill or capability to critically seek and select information or to interact with digital interfaces. 5

6. Five problems associated to the use of ICT in Education 4.Lack of reliability in the Internet information. Within the immense amount of information released daily on the Internet, there is a lot of nonsense data that leads to misinformation, causing confusion and deception in the users. 5.Excessive valuation of the virtual world. This problem arises as a consequence of the tendency of valuating in excess the virtual over the real. This problem is the absence of stimuli for the desirable development of motor and sensory skills, leading to exaggerations in the rational abstraction.

7. The Project Method (PM) The Project Method may be summarized in Dewey’s words: “…no method has value unless the one that directs the mind to its growing evolution and progressive enrichment“ To achieve this purpose, the student should be the starting point, the center and the end of education. Dewey considers that the most successful methods in school, in any area of knowledge, depend on how we focus on situations that reflect the reality of daily life of the learner, encouraging the act of thinking and reflecting.

8. The Project Method (PM) (Cont.) When applying PM, the teacher should not provide ready answers and may not present himself as a mere spectator. PM is an active learning method, where students learn to share different experiences in community work. The school encourages the student to understand the world through research, discussions and problem solving. The Project Method can also be seen as a strategy of teaching and learning that seeks, through the investigation of a topic or problem, link the theory and practice, favoring a diverse and real learning. This teaching method seeks to break with the traditional model that works with fragmented content and leading to a segmented organization of disciplines. Thus, the PM aims to achieve an articulation between knowledge and meaningful learning.

9. Results of the field research for the ways of using ICT Figure 1 - Frequency (in %) of Forms of use of ICT in the educational process

10. Results of the field research for the occurrence of problems in using ICT Figure 2 - Occurrence (in %) of problems or distortions in using ICT

11. Conclusions The identification of the six ways of ICT use and the five problems that may occur in using ICT in educational processes facilitates the development of pedagogical projects that look for the integration of ICT in schools more effectively. The Cognitive Development, appointed as a priority area in the relevant literature, was not identified as such in the field research, although it is placed in the group of the three most important. The most common problems in using ICT in schools are not currently the most discussed in the literature. The field research highlighted the Lack of Reliability in Internet Information and Social Exclusion as the major issues. The problem of Excessive Valuation of the Virtual does not occur much in our schools, but that concerns educators. This is related to the fact of our schools still do not have enough computational resources (Brazilian context).

12. Conclusions (cont.) The most frequent problem found was the Lack of Reliability in the Internet Information. The contribution of PM to minimize or solve the problems in using ICT in education become clear. The results show that the PM can contribute effectively to minimize the Social Isolation, the Information Overload and the Lack of Reliability in Internet information The results also show that PM can contribute to minimize the Excessive Valuation of the Virtual and the Social Exclusion. We concluded that, in environments where the PM is applied, problems in using ICT are minimized. We also conclude that in any approach towards the inclusion ICT in the educational context, the preparation of teachers and their familiarity on the use the new technologies are a key factor to achieve the best results.