A digital game about water use as a teaching-learning tool in elementary school

Abstract

With the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), there was also the development of specific technologies applied to Environmental Education which are used by teachers. In this context, several softwares for teaching/learning were developed, with educational games aiming at stimulating student’s knowledge skills using amusement among the available modalities. In Brazil, several digital games have been created to meet the demands set out in the National Water Resources Policies (Law 9433/97) and Environmental Education (Law 9795/99), which states in its Article 2 that Environmental Education must be present at all levels of education. The present study characterized the profile of students of Elementary School II on the issue of water and verified the satisfaction of the digital game on the part of the students, identifying suggestions and ideas as to the benefits that the practice of digital gaming can offer in the classroom and in teaching practice. The study was developed in a school unit, part of the education network of Taubaté municipality, SP, and carried out with 63 eighth-grade students, with ages varying from 13 to 14 years, using the digital game Educa-Ação-Água. The first activity in this study was to raise students’ awareness through a visit to the municipality’s water capture and treatment station. In the data collection phase, a first questionnaire was applied in order to determine the students’ level of knowledge on the topic of water and, later, after the students played the digital game, they answered a second questionnaire. The activity with the digital game Educa-Ação-Água led to students’ awareness and learning about the water theme, leading them to recognize its importance and developing critical sense. In an evaluation of the game, it was observed that 51.6% of the students rated the game as “Good” and 35% of them rated it as “Very Good”, 88% felt encouraged to finish the game (Save the Tijuco River) and about 65% would play again at home or in the classroom. There was a contribution from students (players) when evaluating the game Educa-Ação-Água, noting points to be improved. The use of the WordCloud Tool allowed for a satisfactory graphical visualization of the students’ answers.