Mobile Learning in the context of Covid-19, from option to necessity? The case for active geometry learning with the Virtual Model project

Abstract

In the Covid-19 pandemic, many schools provided remote learning to students, through virtual classrooms, to mitigate the impact of the closure of these schools. Studies carried out within this context point out that mobile learning, even though very little explored, is considered an effective alternative.

In this article, it is described part of a research that was carried out with the following objectives: to characterize the contexts of post-secondary students at the Federal Institute of Pernambuco, regarding the use of mobile technologies in educational context; and, to analyze the impact of mobile learning in the development of transversal and specific mathematical skills.

A qualitative case study was conducted, based on an interpretative paradigm, involving maths’ teachers and their students. Data collection consisted of questionnaires, observation, researcher's diary, document collection and focus group.

We have concluded that smartphones are embedded in the daily lives of these students, for leisure or for the benefit of their learning and inherent to the monitoring of remote learning; and mobile learning combined with active methodologies had a positive impact on the development of transversal and specific mathematical skills, proving to be quite effective with the adoption of remote learning.