Summary
It has been found that the behavior of young people can be dangerously affected by the weakening of moral values; hence the need to attend to the formation, strengthening and development of values in the new generations.
The formation of values is a pedagogical task that must be assumed by the family, the school and other socializing institutions, including the Young Computer and Electronics Club.
A possible way for the formation of values is the knowledge of the life of historical personalities that can serve as paradigms to be followed by students.
All the heroes and martyrs of the homeland constitute paradigms for the formation of values and all must be taken into account, but due to the meaning they have for Cubans, José Martí, Ernesto Guevara and Fidel Castro constitute the main paradigms for the education of new generations. The Ministry of Education in recent years has been insisting on the formation of values, taking into account these personalities as paradigms.
The Young Clubs are in a position to contribute to the formation of values, which is why, based on educational needs, this work aims to put New Technologies at the service of the formation of values.
The purpose of this work is to show that New Technologies, and in particular multimedia software about Che as a child, can contribute to the formation of values in Cuban children, adolescents and youth.
Introduction
The formation of values is of paramount importance at this time, because globally, the loss of values that is seen today in all nations is a concern. Many researchers agree that it is essential to attend to the formation and strengthening of moral values in man, and especially in young generations.
Knowledge of Che's life, work and thought can contribute to the formation of values in children and adolescents. His eagerness to know, his honesty, honesty, simplicity, responsibility, industry, collectivism, solidarity, humanism, patriotism and internationalism, values that characterized him throughout his life.
Neoliberal globalization and its consequences for humanity and its economic and social effects, the exacerbation of global problems, the world economic crisis, have contributed to the deterioration and change of values on a world scale. This problem particularly affects children and youth, reflecting through the loss of values, the most pressing social problems in the world today. Our country suffers the consequences of the aforementioned problems, which has been manifested by the weakening and loss of values in some social sectors.
An important objective in the training of new generations is to make Che become a paradigm for them. Working with New Technologies and in particular the use of educational multimedia "When Che was Ernestito" can help students who attend the Young Club raise their knowledge about Che and in this way contribute to the development of values. Assuming that Information and Communication Technologies can contribute to the formation of values of children and adolescents, a multimedia software about Che as a child could be used, through it and taking Che as a paradigm, contribute to the formation of values in children and youth.
Development
The need and importance of this work lies in the fact that it responds to the priorities of the Ministry of Education in our country; that is, to the formation of values, to the study of Che's life and thought and to the efforts made by the Union of Young Communists and the Organization of Pioneers in this direction. In Cuba there are important works on the theory of values; but there are still insufficient studies on the pedagogical treatment of this problem, specifically with specific curricular strategies.
Research works on the issue of values have been developed and continue to be developed. The novelty of this work is that New Technologies are applied based on the formation of values.
The formation of values with the use of ICT can be effective if it is considered that it is necessary to motivate the student through attractive content and properly dosed with the help of technology. In this case, the student will act as "the motivated learning learner" where the computer is a tool that motivates learning, a somewhat special motivation, since students enjoy contact and interaction with the computer. Technology motivates students and increases performance in classrooms.
This paper takes into account the functions that computers perform:
The traditional function of a useful instrument for students to acquire a minimum level of computer knowledge.
That of supporting and complementing the contents of the study programs.
The means of interaction between teachers and students, between the students themselves and between teachers.
This work can contribute to the formation of values, because the attention of the students is higher when they can interact with the computer than when they receive a traditional class. Through the use of the computer, the student learns to investigate and infer on her own; A wide horizon of possibilities opens up for him to practice and learn in a pleasant, motivating way and at the same time the computer helps to create highly significant and valuable learning situations for students.
A learning environment supported in Information and Communication Technologies promotes the use of active methodologies, taking advantage of the information interaction and processing facilities provided by computers; it also offers ample possibilities to achieve an adequate adaptation to the different learning styles and personal characteristics of the students, promoting greater motivation through the use of appropriately contextualized content and didactic scenarios; promotes the autonomy and independence of the student, while demanding greater participation and conscious responsibility from the student, with a view to achieving the required learning.
The mission of Information and Communication Technologies is to provide students with the necessary resources to master the information tools.
At the same time, the teacher must draw the attention of the students to the real nature of the use of the instruments of educational production that are intended to complement social and intellectual relationships. These technologies are allowing both learners and educators new ways of global vision and thinking, to locate information not as is customary in books, but favoring the mental agility and creativity of the student. The use of ICT for the formation of values having Che as a paradigm demands the teacher to assume the role of facilitator in the teaching-learning process, allowing students to approach the acquisition of knowledge about Che's life and work in a way that independent, creative.
With the use of educational multimedia software "When Che was Ernestito" it is intended to address the difficulties that have been manifesting in schools, related to the formation of moral values in both children and adolescents. In response to these negative manifestations, an investigation was initiated with the purpose of supporting the process of formation of values that the Ministry of Education carries out in all its centers, through the application of new technologies in a novel and attractive way for students.
The research has been carried out since 2005 and has been applied at the “Mártires del 9 de Abril” Primary School and the Young Computer Club of the Sagua la Grande municipality.
Graduates Marlenis Yera Chaviano (as content expert and specialist in Teaching in primary education) and Lic. Isabel Martínez Pérez (Instructor of the Young Computer and Electronics Club) participate in the research.
With the multimedia software based on the formation of values, not only are students taught aspects of Che's life, but also meaningful and discovery learning is provided, by providing the student with didactic situations that enhance their initiative and creativity.
The use of the educational software «When Che was Ernestito», is based on its educational, instructive and formative nature. It is an application that allows both the student and the teacher to get in touch with the New Technologies for Education, which promotes autonomy in the student, allows him to be the protagonist of his learning and stimulate his creativity. It can be useful for the learning of children and young people about Che's childhood and youth, since they can learn how Che's parents and in general the whole Che family contributed to his formation; to know how his character and temperament was tempered until he became a young man with many virtues and positive values, which made Ernestito that great man that we knew and admired Cubans and the world in general,an example that pioneers must assume to be worthy heirs to our traditions of struggle and dignity and to make their pioneer motto a reality.
The software can be used in the educational teaching process in the Spanish Language classes, where the figure of Che is worked from the class itself. With the use of the software, the student can discover and internalize the values that will later be worked on in the study group, values that are revealed during the execution of the software and will undergo analysis and discussion with the students under the guidance and guidance of the teacher, who knows the objective proposed for the activity.
The teacher must direct this process of analysis in the group and draw the students' attention to those positive values of Ernestito that the Ministry of education wishes to form in the students, such as: their desire to know despite health problems that they afflicted him and that he could hardly attend school, his honesty in study, the simplicity with which he related to children, always preferring the poorest and neediest, his responsibility for any task assigned to him at school and in the game with her little friends, the chivalry in the games with the girls, the industriousness that was revealed before any responsibility assigned to her at home, at school, on her grandmother's farm,collectivism and the solidarity manifested by the child during the Spanish Civil War, his humanism when deciding on the profession of doctor to be able to alleviate the pain of others, always very supportive with his friends and always ready to share everything he had, including food with the others etc.
The software can be useful in Spanish Language and History classes, where values can be formed in children through the class itself, taking advantage of the educational potential of Commander Guevara's childhood, as well as his adolescence, youth and letters. from Che to his parents and children.
The student will be in a position to form their values to the extent that they cease to be a reproductive entity, which mechanically repeats the information they receive and becomes a subject that processes information and builds knowledge based on their prior interests and knowledge, about the basis of a deep process of reflection, in which it takes sides and develops points of view and criteria.
On the other hand, the development of the student as a learning subject and their education in values is possible to the extent that the teacher designs learning situations that encourage the student to assume an active, reflective, flexible, persevering position in his or her performance. For this reason, the guiding character of the teacher in the formation of values is important. The use of participatory methods in the teaching-learning process fosters the training and development of flexibility, active disposition, personalized reflection, perseverance and a mediated perspective in the expression of values, as part of the regulation of behavior of student.
Only by creating spaces for reflection in the teaching-learning process in which the student learns to value, to argue their points of view, to defend them before those who oppose them, spaces in which the student is free to express his criteria., to disagree, to propose initiatives, to listen and understand others, to confront problems with security and independence, to strive to achieve their purposes, spaces in the teaching-learning process in which they are the teacher guides of their students, models of professionals, examples to imitate, only under these conditions will you be contributing to education in student values.
Education in values and the curriculum
Values are an expression of the society in which they were created and this reflects their aspirations and purposes in the educational policy that is drawn, thus defining what type of person needs to be trained to respond to their goals and interests.
In order for the students to be able to act in accordance with the values that the society in which they live sustains, it is necessary to organize the teaching process in such a way that the students consciously participate in the activity as subjects of learning, training and development, which They have the opportunity to communicate with their peers, to work together, to set common goals and achieve them in accordance with their age and their particular possibilities.
Each individual learns to direct his behavior as a result of his active and conscious participation in different educational situations. They allow the educator to guide the process of personality formation; otherwise, it is left to form spontaneously, leaving the student at the mercy of multiple contradictory influences that, by the method of trial and error, lead him to develop attitudes, behaviors and values that are often opposed to the ones he wants to obtain.
Every society has as its essential objective to train and prepare each person for their full incorporation into social life and to fully fulfill their function and tasks for their benefit.
The formation of values in a society responds to the interests of the class that owns the political power and is aimed at perpetuating the prevailing social system.
There is a close relationship between ideology and curriculum. The curriculum according to Kemmis is ideologically shaped and modeled. The prevailing ideology and its value system determine the content of the curriculum. In the Cuban educational system, the curriculum focuses on the formation of values. Students are trained in correspondence with the values of the Revolution and Socialism, which constitute the foundation of the Cuban social project, which places man and human improvement at the center of society's efforts. Values education in Cuba has its main paradigms in José Martí, Ernesto Guevara and Fidel Castro.
According to Dr. Magalys Ruiz Iglesias, there are different points of view on which content selection is focused on the curricular conceptions of different countries and with different educational policies. Those views are:
- Focused on the formation of values (political, economic, ethical, etc.). Focused on knowledge (utilitarian, pragmatic, technological). Focused on the intellectual development promoted by the sciences.
The Cuban curricular selection focuses on the formation of values, as reflected in the policy of the Communist Party of Cuba regarding education and as emphasized by the Commander in Chief when he says: "Education is decisive for us and not only the general instruction, inculcate more and more profound knowledge to our people, with the formation of values in the conscience of children and young people from the earliest ages, and that today is more necessary than ever. ”
Under these conditions, the school must deepen the formation and strengthening of the values of the Revolution and socialism in students. The results of the surveys applied to students and teachers show that the desired level in the formation of values is not reached in children and adolescents.
One of the ways to contribute to the formation of values is the deepening of Che's life and thought. This is reflected in the motto of the Pioneers Organization, "Pioneers for Communism: we will be like Che!". This organization aspires for the new generations to be like Che. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education has oriented to all the teachings a Guevarian Program to promote the knowledge of Che's life and work because the knowledge that students and teachers have on the subject is considered deficient.
Learning needs linked to values
Some learning needs of children and adolescents who visit the Joven Club and participate in courses or circles of interest are the following:
Lacks in the formation of values of children and adolescents.
Poor knowledge on the part of the students about the life and the thought of Che.
The different points of view about education in values are related to questions such as: what are values? What is valuation? What is the relationship between education in values and the educational project? Does the school form values? How can the school measure the formation and development of values? These questions, although they do not exhaust the existing concerns, at least introduce the analysis of values in the teacher education of children and young people.
The phenomenon of how to develop and form values is a process of enculturation (Aguirre, 1995; 498), which lasts a lifetime, in which the social changes that take place have an impact and that cause transformations in human interrelationships, in perceptions, and in the material and natural conditions of life; that is, in the quality and meaning of life. Values are reasons and affects of human life itself, which is not isolated from the relationship between the material and the spiritual, and between the social and the individual. Intentionally and consciously integrating values into learning means not only thinking about content as knowledge and skills, but about the relationship they have with the values.
Knowledge has a value content and value a meaning in reality, which must be properly interpreted and understood through culture and therefore scientific and everyday knowledge; In this sense, value is also knowledge, but it is something more, it is feeling and affectivity in the individual. Thus the learning of a mathematical, physical or professional knowledge must be dealt with in all its dimensions: historical, political, moral, etc., that is, underlining the intention towards society, where the relationship science, technology, society is expressed, and are present qualitative analyzes, process approaches and motivation. In the same way that it is possible to treat a value from content, it is also possible from its know-how (ability and capacity). Seen like this,the teaching-learning process acquires a new content due to its comprehensive nature.
New technologies in education
The construction of a more advanced society implies that new and more specific knowledge and skills are constantly demanded of the individual so that he can make use of the possibilities offered to him.
The importance of science and technology in general education is something commonly accepted. To the extent that innovation in these fields is an essential factor in economic and social development, educational systems must promote adequate scientific and technical training for children and young people as a priority in the design of school curricula. Without well-educated individuals leading the challenges of technological innovation and without educated citizens interested in these issues, it will not be possible for countries to successfully face the challenges of the emerging knowledge society.
The social impact of Information and Communication Technologies touches closely on Cuban schools, promoting modifications in traditional ways of teaching and learning. If we stick to the obvious fact that the relentless advancement of technology does not seem to be holding back, the challenge for educational centers is to prepare as an institution and in turn prepare their students to adapt to changes quickly and effectively, with a minimum expenditure of human and material resources. Among the fundamental keys to success are:
Make learning become a natural and permanent process for students and teachers.
Learn to use new technologies and use new technologies to learn.
It is the task of educators to use Information and Communication Technologies as means to promote general training and preparation for the future life of their students, contributing to the improvement, in the broadest sense, of their quality of life.
The introduction and effective use of computers for teaching purposes is a complex phenomenon, with broad prospects and whose results will be increasingly favorable in the long term.
The main role assigned to the computer in education does not lie in the particular characteristics of the transmission and interaction system, but in the symbol systems that can be handled with it.
The computer should help the student to work with his mind, not simply to respond automatically. Furthermore, it should be clear that no one medium can do everything, particularly in educational situations.
Educational software is called software that is intentionally designed for educational purposes, which implies that in some way, part of the content that is intended to be learned will be integrated or supported, implicitly or explicitly, in the software.
To achieve effectiveness in the use of computers in the teaching process, it is necessary to provide them with quality educational software, which must be measured in terms of the knowledge that they are able to represent and transmit to the student so that he can appropriate it. The process of creating quality educational content is an arduous task, which requires the action of interdisciplinary groups.
This is possible if the product is independent of the technology used for its construction and can interoperate, serve as a component for another product (aggregation) or be derived in a new object with more specific characteristics (inheritance).
Literature derived from educational research indicates that the use of interactive multimedia presentation systems at the level of educational settings considerably improves the teaching-learning process.
Es importante que el profesorado cuente con medios de enseñanza apropiados, que respondan a las necesidades reales de sus educandos; aun más cuando se utiliza la computadora con todas las facilidades de la multimedia. Es por ello conveniente utilizar un lenguaje de autor para crear una aplicación que resulte fácil de manejar por el estudiante y le ofrezca un entorno agradable, de fácil navegación y que incluya imágenes, sonidos, video, textos que llamen la atención del educando y le faciliten apropiarse del conocimiento. Se debe determinar la existencia de un problema educativo a resolver y asegurarse de que la computadora efectivamente posee las ventajas cualitativas sobre otros medios educativos para resolver el mismo.
The classification of educational software has always been present in the long way to the use of computers for educational purposes. Based on what Vaquero said, it is possible to establish a relationship between the different types of educational software and the learning modes: this is how hypertexts and hypermedia are related to the constructivist paradigm.
The use of hypertexts or hypermedia allows the information to be organized in a non-linear way to achieve the desired pedagogical objectives. This makes it easier for the user to consult it according to their needs and taking into account their previous experience in the subject, in order to build new knowledge.
Hypermedia is a category of educational software that has been booming in recent years. A hypertext can be represented as a graph, between whose nodes links are established that allow the non-linear organization of the information. In a hypermedia structure the nodes can contain information expressed in different formats (text, graphic, sound, animation, video) and in addition passive and active nodes can be combined. The latter can include executable modules that are activated in real time.
Hypermedia software can support teaching if navigation aids are included that provide adequate guidance. A hypermedia system is a structure similar to that of hypertext, where the information contained in the nodes is multimedia (texts, images, animation sequences, sounds, video). In short: Hypermedia = hypertext structure + multimedia information.
Hypermedia systems are currently widely used in the process of presenting and processing information. Its presence in the educational world is increasingly wide.
The psycho-pedagogical foundations of educational hypermedia can be related to both the theory of behaviorism and that of constructivism, depending on the degree of initiative that is available to the student, either for the use or for the development of hypermedia educational software
For all the aforementioned, the use of the educational software "When Che was Ernestito" is proposed as a methodological proposal for the formation of values and knowledge of Che's childhood.
The present work constitutes a methodological proposal for the formation of values in the students of primary and basic secondary education, from the knowledge of the life of Ernesto Guevara through the use of an educational multimedia application.
Information and knowledge technologies are revolutionizing teaching-learning processes, offering students, teachers and schools new tools and possibilities for working in the classroom with educational multimedia. The present work is intended to meet the educational needs of students through the use of multimedia technology.
For these reasons, the introduction of the multimedia educational software "When Che was Ernestito" is proposed, taking into account the possibilities of this teaching medium for the formation of values in students, as well as the possibilities it offers for the study of History and the work with the Spanish Language subject, in the preparation of political activities, of material to support political-ideological work from within the classroom, and can also serve as reference material for teachers of both classes.
At the end of the execution of the software, the student can carry out a debate with their classmates and with the teacher, in which conclusions can be reached both from the historical point of view and the values that have been appreciated in the case of Che, so that under the guidance of the teacher, the student internalizes each debated aspect and consciously appropriates them. This method stimulates learning and increases learners' interest in the knowledge they will acquire.
The aim is to identify the existing need in these students and validate the proposed solution with the use of ICT as educational tools, taking into account the advantages that these technologies can bring to teaching.
Conclusions
Values exist within the framework of a social totality, where attitudes that reflect the interests of different social classes coexist. The dominant values are those that reflect the interests of the ruling classes. Currently the Cuban curricular structure focuses the selection of the content of education in the formation of values.
The influence of various international factors, the US blockade policy, the measures that the Revolutionary Government of Cuba was forced to take to get out of the crisis, determined the weakening of the values of the Revolution and Socialism in certain social sectors.. This social problem is reflected in the students in whom the development of values does not reach the desired level.
If a system of actions is structured appropriately from educational software aimed at deepening the students' knowledge of Che's life and work, from which the values that characterized him are promoted, it can contribute to training and strengthening of values in children and adolescents.
This project aims to ensure that in centers where deficiencies in moral values are evident, they can incorporate them in a solid and permanent way with the support of Information Technology and knowledge and more specifically with the use of educational software "When the Che was Ernestito ”, and that in turn the students gain knowledge, develop their creativity and independence, as well as self-confidence, that are motivated to the maximum with the use of computers, develop their interest in continuing to deepen their knowledge and by research as a source thereof.
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Bibliography
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