NEW TECHNOLOGIES AS SUPPORT TO IMPROVING QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN THE FIELD: A CASE STUDY WITH STUDENTS OF GEOGRAPHY COURSE CERES-UFRN

Abstract

In Geography, mainly in physical geography, the new Information and Communications Technology (TIC) have been increasingly used for practical works, both to implementation of applied researches ant to increase academic practices for teaching on field classes. Consequently, the purpose of this work is to demonstrate the potential of using portable microcomputers (tablets) through reports of a field experience with Geography students from Centro de Ensino Superior do Seridó (campus of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte - Caicó/RN). This field work was referring to the discipline of Geography of Rio Grande do Norte and coursed through many cities from the hinterland to the coast of the state of Rio Grande do Norte/Brasil. With apps like Google Earth™, GPS Status™, and others previously installed, the tablets were been shared between groups for a maximum of five students, which were responsible for data collection, containing geographic coordinates, photos, videos, etc. About the students, was observed a bigger interaction in this field activity. Data used to elaborate the field trip report were collected by the students themselves, who participated as direct agents on construction of practical knowledge. Through the reports after delivered by the students, was found a significant progress in the level of fixation of the covered contents. Finally, the conclusion is that using new technologies brought positive results and it was executed without difficulties, resulting then in a progress on practical field knowledge quality.