The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in school contexts and the improvement in the quality of education

This article presents the outcomes of a research that aimed at analyzing the impact of educational policies for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) such as the National Program of Informatics in Schools (Programa Nacional de Informática na Escola – ProInfo) in the routine of Elementary Schools in two towns of the Porto Alegre Metropolitan region, RS. The theoretical support is based on Peter McLaren, Stephen J. Ball and Berger and Luckmann. The data was collected from teachers working for more than 20 years and included documental analysis, interviews, narratives and group discussions. The study demonstrated that a) positive effects in the quality of education through the use of Information and Communication Technologies which is the result of individual teachers´ effort are still unexpressive; b) the experiences with Information and Communication Technologies are not present in Schools Political-Pedagogical Projects; c) the training opportunities focus mainly on the technical training of the use of laboratories by teachers; d) there is an uncomfortable feeling related to power structures, to the allocation of space-time and to the forms of communication. The research suggests that the improvement in the quality of education through the experiences with the use of ICT demands policies that take into consideration the teaching culture as well as the characteristics that match the micro policy school organization