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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Challenges of cooperative learning with the use of digital learning platforms

presenters

    Silvana Capano Romano

    Nationality: Uruguay

    Residence:

    University of Montevideo

Keywords:

Cooperative learning, digital technology, learning platforms

Abstract:

A disruptive innovation that is taking place at Colegio Seminario (Uruguay), has as one of its central axes cooperative work between students. This institutional definition has led to the creation of hyperclassrooms; with a capacity of up to 80 students, with designs of tables in a “honeycomb” format that allow interlocking to generate flexible work groups. Some of these spaces are specialized, such as the Maker Space, for scenarios that use STEAM methodology, Media Labs. or the reconditioning of laboratories with large work tables, among others. Likewise, each student has their own personal computer during all school hours. During the process evaluation, some questions arise about the use of electronic devices in the classroom as challenges: What is the potential and obstacles that the use of technology in the classroom for cooperative work can represent? Specifically, moments were observed where the computer as a work tool could be a distorting factor for human interaction, promoting individual use that unintentionally favors the fragmentation of tasks between students and not the simultaneous “face-to-face” interaction that favors positive interdependence, necessary for good group functioning . Likewise, Classroom was unified as a mandatory educational platform for the entire institution. This tool allowed us to unify a common support for all innovation, as well as having concrete effects such as the significant reduction of paper printing. However, it opened new questions: What is the ideal balance for cooperative work between the use of the individual computer and the physical support? What advantages and disadvantages does the use of the Classroom educational platform offer as a digital support for the innovation in progress. We understand the conceptual and methodological contribution that can arise from rigorous research on this topic to be extremely relevant, since cooperative work is a methodology that has spread to to all educational levels.