“Science teachers underutilize digital resources,” stated Ana Cecilia Bonilla, a graduate of the Master’s in Education program, in her master’s thesis titled “The Use of Platforms, Virtual Classrooms, and Digital Tools as Resources for Teaching Science.”
Based on international evidence, he noted that teachers were using educational platforms for traditional purposes—such as sending messages or posting information. However, they were not using them in a pedagogical way or to their full potential, despite the opportunities that technology could provide.
For that reason, he decided to examine perceptions regarding the use of educational platforms, virtual classrooms, and digital tools as resources for teaching natural sciences.
In addition to identifying the types of uses and resources that teachers preferred on the Schoology platform, the study also explored the views of teacher education students regarding the potential and limitations of using digital technologies for science education.
The graduate of the Master’s in Education program chose to conduct a study on the in-person and blended learning models of initial teacher training in the department of Artigas during the 2019–2021 period. She conducted an online survey of 226 students and analyzed 32 virtual classrooms for natural science courses in the 1st and 4th grades, both in-person and blended.
***
Although the institution under study had been using the Schoology platform since 2017, Bonilla found that, in 2019, only one teacher had registered their course there. This finding is consistent with the research, which revealed a low to moderate level of digital resource usage among teachers, particularly in 2019.
However, that situation changed with the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis in 2020, which led teachers to begin uploading their courses to the platform, as it became the official channel of communication with their students.
Furthermore, according to what the graduate stated during her thesis defense—which took place on Tuesday, June 28, at the Institute of Education—teachers who joined the platform in 2020 gradually began incorporating a variety of resources into their virtual classrooms.
For example, those related to communication (such as the use of forums), design and organization (such as the use of folders or file uploads), or assessment (questionnaires or rubrics).
However, it also found—particularly in face-to-face teacher training programs—a decline in the use of resources available in virtual classrooms as institutions gradually returned to in-person instruction following the pandemic.
***
What were the opinions of teacher education students regarding the potential and limitations of using digital tools for learning natural sciences? Bonilla also noted, based on the perceptions of the surveyed students, a “limited pedagogical use of resources” in natural science classes, as well as “low utilization of the tools”—another aspect that began to change with the COVID-19 health crisis.
“Upon conducting a comparative analysis between the number of enrolled students and the number accessing the Schoology platform, it was observed that logins were very sporadic,” he noted in his final paper, adding that, in 2021, access was three times higher than in 2019.
In that regard, what might be the reason for the underutilization of digital resources in science classes? One possible explanation, according to Bonilla, is the “shortcomings identified in teachers’ technological and pedagogical training.”
“Teachers need to be convinced that technology is truly worthwhile for providing a quality education,” he said.
For that reason, in his thesis, he explained, on the one hand, that it is “necessary and appropriate to provide opportunities for teachers to receive training in technology and in the specific pedagogy of the sciences.”
On the other hand, he said it would be essential for them not to feel pressured by policies or external factors that might lead them to simply “replicate traditional classes,” but to use technological resources that “make no sense.”
In closing, Bonilla emphasized the role of teachers in the global, technology-driven society of the 21st century. “We can embrace digital technologies and integrate them into our teaching practices to improve the quality of education,” he concluded.