Experiencias docentes en el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico a través de entornos virtuales de aprendizaje en el área de estudios sociales de EGB Superior

Abstract

Background: Teachers must have the ability to provide strategies that help their students to develop the essential competencies to develop in the new virtual reality. Objective: To analyze how the use of virtual learning environments (VLE) by teachers of Social Studies enables the development of critical thinking in high school students in a public institution in the city of Cuenca. Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative approach and the design was a case study. The intervention population consisted of 5 teachers of the “Herlinda Toral Educational Unit”, with whom semi-structured interviews and a classroom observation record were applied. Results: The teachers of the "Herlinda Toral" Educational Unit promote the development of critical thinking in the subject of social studies through the VLE. This is done through the following actions: they refer to the social, historical and political context of the topics addressed in class, they use critical vocabulary, and they formulate questions for students to identify all the information contained in the texts or to incorporate and classify information. Conclusion: The VLEs prevented education from stopping during the pandemic; they also developed the autonomy of certain students, promoted greater interactivity in classes, and enhanced critical thinking by allowing teachers to upload material that enables students to analyze, classify, and discuss it.