GUIA DIGITAL PARA USO DE GRUPOS DE WHATSAPP NO ENSINO: UMA INTERPRETAÇÃO ANALÍTICO-COMPORTAMENTAL

Abstract

New communication tools, such as WhatsApp, represent life gains in society by making communication more agile. Changes in individual ways of communicating are reflected at organizational levels, and currently, institutions such as schools are restructuring their communication and educational strategies to adapt to these innovations. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the use of WhatsApp groups by teachers and students in the 3rd year of high school at a Federal Public Education Institution in the interior of the State of Maranhão and develop a digital guide to assist the teacher in the use of WhatsApp groups as a teaching tool. To achieve these objectives, applied, mixed, exploratory and field research was developed; where questionnaires were administered on the perception of the use of WhatsApp in the school environment to 39 students in the 3rd year of integrated high school and 10 teachers, of both sexes; in addition to observing 3 WhatsApp groups for 3 months. As a result, it was found that WhatsApp is mainly used as a means to facilitate institutional communication by teachers and students; and teaching purposes were not prevalent in the groups observed. Despite this, students and teachers already perceive this application as a tool of educational possibility. The main positive points highlighted by students about the use of WhatsApp in the school environment were: the availability of materials related to the subjects, general organization, group cohesion, interactions and support beyond the classroom; The main problems indicated by the students referred to deviations in the group's purpose, lack of communication and excessive messages - indicating the need to guide teachers on rules of use, planning and behavior in the WhatsApp group so that it can be become an effective tool in the educational environment. The results of the present study supported the development of the digital guide for teachers with tips on how to organize, implement and evaluate a WhatsApp group for educational purposes. This Guide talked about useful WhatsApp features for teachers; how to present the WhatsApp group to students and how the teacher evaluates the WhatsApp group.