Abstract:

Digital technologies, which have profoundly transformed the way we communicate, work, acquire information and knowledge today, have marked their omnipresence in the teaching-learning process. The Covid-19 pandemic led to periods of global containment, prophylactic isolation, school closures and the replacement of face-to-face teaching with emergency remote teaching. Within this framework, the objectives of this research were: (i) to capture and analyse students' perceptions of the use of digital resources and platforms (Teams and Zoom); and (ii) to understand how students perceived the use of the free computer applications used to carry out assignments and tasks, including access to the digital textbook. In methodological terms, we opted for the construction, validation and application of a questionnaire (on line) to forty secondary school students in Portugal (11th grade). We carried out a simple statistical analysis and used content analysis on the open questions (Bogdan). The intentional sample (Creswell, 2018) was composed of two secondary school classes from a public school in the Greater Lisbon region, totalling 40 students (n=40), with a 60% male (24 boys) and 40% female (16 girls) sample of respondents, with an average age of 17 years. The results of this study show that it is possible to develop, even in emergency remote teaching, the soft skills of the Profile of the Out-of-School Student (PASEO) as well as to highlight the pedagogical and didactic advantages of the pedagogical materials selected, validated and made available by the teacher on platforms recognised in the academic community. The data from this study allows us to highlight the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education which was significant in that it accelerated the use of digital technologies and provided an opportunity for new approaches in school practices. This research allows us to conclude that remote learning has accelerated digital literacy as a basic skill, and transversal to all disciplines and professions. This research allows us to conclude that digital skills, nowadays and in a post-pandemic scenario, are fundamental for the individual to be successful in his/her social and professional life. However, remote teaching translates into a deficit in the teacher-student relationship, socialisation and interaction with the educational community.

Keywords:

Covid-19 pandemic, digital skills, secondary school students, Portugal, digital literacy.