Digital Narratives: Sceneries to Promote Science Education in Primary School

• Author(s): Gomes, Cristina Azevedo ; Ramos, Filipa ; Formoso, Carla
• Date: 2014
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/2319
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Viseu
• Subject(s): Primary School; Science education; Games; Multimedia stories
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

This paper discusses the potential of digital narratives for science education during the early years of schooling. We present two case studies developed in formal learning settings in two primary schools. Children of nine -ten years old were challenged to develop games and multimedia stories about science curricular topics, using several free software applications. We intended to take advantage of the entire technological capacity placed in Portuguese schools by the e.escolinha initiative which aimed to provide a low-cost laptop, the Magellan computer, to all primary school children. Findings indicate that working with low-cost technology and free software can generate educational benefits. Developing digital narratives engaged the children in processes of negotiating and collaboration. Digital narratives can be a good context to promote the construction of knowledge in science education.