At the crossroads of educational options. An exploratory study on distance learning in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education

Abstract

Schools closure due to the pandemic has been especially difficult for the more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. Using distance learning (EaD) to try to assure some continuity in the effort of granting education for all has required the use of different digital platforms, as well as a reflection about the curriculum and the meaning of learning. Online education, as a contemporary reality, had already been the subject of several studies (Dias, 2004; Lencastre & Araújo, 2009; Peres & Pimenta, 2011; Rosenberg, 2006), but the last few months produced changes in the way it is conceptualized and integrated in the educational practice.

In this text, we focus on the way teachers in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education in Portugal have organized themselves to help students continue their learning process in the pandemic scenario. The data were collected through a survey answered by 287 teachers in activity during school year 2019/2020.

In general, data indicate a common resistance to the need for change, despite the implementation of some relational, didactic and pedagogical new strategies.