Educational laptops in public schools: digital literacy and possibilities of transforming pedagogical practices

The presence of educational laptops in the routine of students and teachers might contribute for the construction of innovative alternatives for the teaching practice. With that in mind, this paper starts with the idea that the insertion of educational laptops in 1:1 model might be a disturbing element, triggering a process of reflection and awareness of the teaching practice on teachers themselves. That could lead to redimensioning the pedagogical practice in a movement towards including the laptop significantly in the school routine. We present a case study from an exploratory perspective about the insertion of laptops in a public school (from elementary to junior high), analyzing the process of digital literacy taking place in that school community. In that sense, digital literacy implies on the interaction in social networks that allow exploration and research, teaching and criticizing in a construction process of learning and knowing mediated by digital technologies. To do so, from the non-linearity that accompanies the communication flows emerging from these technologies, students and teachers are instigated to find new meanings, where reading and writing consist in sharing knowledge and opinions and not only an assignment to hand in.