Pilot phase study of tablets in early childhood and primary education in Uruguay within Plan Ceibal

Abstract

This article presents reflections and results from a study about the pilot phase developed by Ceibal Plan concerning to the inclusion of tablets in early childhood education and primary education in Uruguay (2013-2014). The research is carried out from a constructivist perspective with a socio-cultural orientation, developing an exploratory strategy. The study attempt to know school’s technologies conditions, activities with tablets, their contexts and aims from teacher’s perspective. The sample design was developed taking into account strategic approaches, building a population that involved thirty schools from Montevideo and Canelones. The results provide information on technological infrastructure and human resources, activities contexts and aims proposed by teachers. The conclusions describes school's conditions about Internet access, administrative and pedagogical uses with the technological resources, as well as activities folowing digital literacy and pedagogical goals. In general terms, there is a favorable attitude from teachers about integrating the tablets in the first grades of schooling, but also some difficulties are recognized during the development of the pilot test.