VIRTUAL DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE PORTUGUESE HOSPITAL SCHOOLING CONTEXT: PERSPECTIVES OF THE HEALTH AND EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

The study that originated this article falls within a research project in education, trying to contribute towards the materialization of the right to access to school education by hospitalized children/youths, who are prevented from attending their regular school. Focusing on the Portuguese context, we tried to understand how hospital may be perceived as an intervening party and interlocutor in a new educational-pedagogical field, by analysing educational guidelines and pedagogical practices, namely those integrating new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Among the various dimensions analyzed, we considered the potential of ICTs to overthrow the barriers to communication, with alternative tools to classroom learning, and to facilitate the teaching and learning in computer environments. Pursuant to this, this article has been conceived by an emerging situation of the study carried out, with a sample of subjects in six public hospitals and organized according to the case study methodology (Yin, 2001). Our analysis was based on data from official documents, opinions of health professionals (questionnaire/n = 163) and educators, who work in hospital settings (semi-structured interview/n=15). Results show the marked discrepancy and little expression of/in existing experiences. On one hand, there are some institutions that make use of ICT to facilitate the functional connection of students with their schools of origin; on the other, there is a clear need to foster motivation for the continuation of the student’s tasks by maintaining procedures for teaching and learning with new work possibilities, focused on the student, in the team with their teacher and in distance education.