Análise de ferramentas com gamificação para uso em práticas mediadas por tecnologias digitais: uma investigação durante a formação inicial de professores de línguas

Abstract

Digital technologies have transformed everyday activities, including forms of learning, making educational systems rethink teaching practices. In this context, this study aims to investigate the potential of digital tools used in the context of language teachers’ initial training. The specific objectives unfold in (i) describing what initial training teachers understand by digital literacy; (ii) describe the gamification strategies present in the digital tools Kahoot and Mentimeter; (iii) present the initial training language teachers’ opinions regarding the gamification strategies present in Kahoot and Mentimeter tools, pointing out empirical potentialities for their use in pedagogical practices mediated by digital technologies and (iv) analyze the digital tools used in micro teaching as the use of gamification strategies. In order to produce a study on the contributions of digital tools in teachers’ initial training, this qualitative-quantitative and interventionist research sought to carry out a case study with the initial training teachers of a Language course of a Federal University of South of Minas Gerais in a discipline that works with digital technologies focused on the process of teaching and learning languages. For data collection, three questionnaires and two interventions were performed with the digital tools Kahoot and Mentimeter. In addition, observations and notes were made in a field diary of micro-teaching developed by initial training teachers in the analyzed subject. The data collected during this research were treated using the gamification strategies listed by Vianna et al. (2013) and Alves, Minho and Diniz (2014) and the gamification definitions proposed by Deterding et al. (2011). The analysis of these data reveals that these future teachers understand and consider having digital literacy. In addition, we found that the Kahoot and Mentimeter tools have potential for being used in contexts such as class input, fixation exercises, content review and verification of previous knowledge. These results contribute to the process of initial training of language teachers focused on the use of digital technologies and also reinforce the need for teachers’ training that considers digital literacies, in order to encourage future teachers to use these technologies in their future pedagogical practices.