Date received: 09/10/2018 / Date reviewed: 29/10/2018 / Date accepted: 06/02/2019

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Abstract.

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La preparación del docente es exigente y no sólo basta con apropiarse de un conocimiento específico de enseñanza, sino que requiere del desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas para el manejo de las TIC (Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación). Se debe buscar una interacción continua con los grumetes (estudiantes recién ingresados que duran dos años en la Escuela Naval de Suboficiales) tanto en el sitio de trabajo como en cualquier lugar donde se encuentren. Este artículo, como resultado de una investigación en la tecnología Electromecánica de la Escuela Naval de Suboficiales de Barranquilla, expone la preparación de los docentes en TIC y cómo éstos las perciben en las actividades de enseñanza. Se ha tomado como población a los 24 docentes de la tecnología, de los cuales 12 desarrollan materias que están directamente relacionadas en el uso de las TIC, siendo así involucrados en este estudio y por lo tanto representan la muestra. Se recopiló información de los docentes, jefe de programa de la tecnología, grumetes, Departamento de Estadística y Departamento de Telemática. Los resultados muestran a los docentes con buenos niveles de formación en TIC, con una percepción favorable en su uso. Se observa una tendencia a su actualización permanente; sin embargo, existen algunos casos puntuales que demuestran lo contrario. Se recomienda continuar con el seguimiento a estos procesos aplicándolos en las otras tecnologías y escuelas de formación de la Armada Nacional.

Introduction

The NONS¹ is located in the city of Barranquilla. It is near the Caribbean Sea and behind its facilities is Colombia’s most important waterway: The Magdalena River, which flows into the Caribbean Sea through the Bocas de Ceniza. This institution trains and prepares both militarily and technologically the men and women who serve as non-commissioned naval officers in the naval or land units of the National Navy.

Nowadays, there is no previous study on the use of ICT in the teaching process of Electromechanical technology nor the impact they have on it. For this reason, it is necessary to know how to use and incorporate them. We have the continuous collaboration of teachers (this research’s object of study) and the academic program directors. Both are needed for preparing talented people in the use of new information and communication technologies. In addition, there is a need for people characterized by their enthusiasm, willingness, motivation and interest in promoting innovations so that can cabin boys benefit from the instruction received. This led to the following question: What is the status for the use of ICT in the in NONS’s Electromechanical technology teaching process?

When trying to answer this question, an analysis was initially carried out on the ICT state of the art at the global, national and regional levels. As a result of this study, we discovered that by using them in the pedagogical activity, the teacher’s work in higher education institutions is made easier due to the student’s motivation to research a previously discussed topic from class or to prepare the lessons to be received in advance. This helps in structuring meaningful learning.

¹Non-Commissioned Officer Naval School

Pedagogical processes benefit from the management of technological resources, from class preparation to didactic evaluations. These are supported by software specifically designed for this purpose. This enables the implementation of training with quality standards where the student manages to achieve meaningful learning in accordance with the current demands of society. Citizens, therefore, have characteristics for knowing, doing and acting, with innovative skills that they recognize in their environment, adapting to it and seeking to solve situations that come their way on a daily basis. As a result, they are able to create new products that meet human needs (Unesco, 2008).

The structure we work with in Spain is based on a quality education focused on the student, i.e., with up-to-date information received in a way that effectively addresses current challenges. On the other hand, the teacher is constantly preparing the topics discussed in the classroom and updating their knowledge through courses or masters, which not only include research in their field of knowledge but also in ICT. In other words, the technological means in training are handled with prudence; and through their use, they provide truthful and precise knowledge (European Commission, 2018).

Nowadays, ICT have reached a peak and experienced a great boost thanks to their impact on the different social communities. So much so that they are used in every activity of the human being, promoting a rise in the demand of worker training, which in this case corresponds to teachers and students (Marqués-Graells, 2012). Indeed, there exists a requirement for a digital literacy that provides the proper training needed to access information and communication anytime and anywhere, thus, leaving time and space barriers behind.

The impact of ICT is evinced by the society and development model that humanity has passed through (Fourçans, 2013). It is manifested in the teaching process, since they ‘enable the integration of more novel experiences that are connected to the expectations and experiences of XXI century students’ (Unesco, 2013, pg. 67).

Educational programs that catch the students’ attention due to their user friendliness and dynamic structure provide a way of improving the teaching process, enabling teachers to have a versatile tool available to be used when developing lessons according to the topic being addressed and the development point of the pedagogical activity. In addition, ‘animations provide further simplicity in the design - and, subsequently, in the cognitive load; they are superior to static media in terms of learning efficiency’ (Holzinger, Kickmeier, & Albert, 2008, pg. 287).

Having the information at hand, sorted by analysis necessities with assessment models and tools that are efficient and pertinent to the conditions for developing academic actions, means that the provided training can prove to enable improvement proposals for both teachers and students (Jaime & Lizcano, 2015). Mobile learning is based on information reception and delivery in different contexts with the aid of technology, adding a channel to support the other real-time training resources (Ramos, Herrera, & Ramírez, 2010).

The benefits of virtual learning, such as the optionality of the student’s presence in the classroom (Pantoja-Vallejo & Zwierewicz, 2008), and the fact that the use of ICT means that the advantage level can be measured by social prestige, coexistence and user satisfaction (Opati, 2013), provide those students with access to technologies and their respective tools with an interactive learning developed within a dynamic environment (Imbernón, Silva, & Guzmán, 2011).

There are difficulties present in educational institutions because ‘in schools, changing lesson planning is slower than adapting to computers in the classroom’ (Livingstone, 2012, pg. 10). However, research by the ITU² reflects the current ICT global infrastructure progress state considering the indicators proposed by them (ITU, 2017).

²International Telecommunication Union

Some of the institutions and organizations highlighted their support to the use of ICT are the United Nations Task Force during the forum on Promoting an Enabling Environment for Digital Development, held in Berlin in 2004, which communicates the key role of ICTs within organizations. The WHO (World Health Organization) also promotes their implementation in the field of health sciences, as well as the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), which promotes those activities related to e-commerce on the Internet in order to streamline commercial transactions.

In addition, the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) has designed a plan to ensure compatibility between its applications and aviation security components worldwide. The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) also carries out projects aimed at converging new and traditional technologies in order to work on alternative crops. Similarly, the UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) collaborates with developing countries in implementing national ICT policies to promote online-business, exports and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, the International Trade Centre (Centro de Comercio Internacional) administers the e-trade bridge program in 30 countries managing auctions of different items via the Internet. Similarly, the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) is working on the development of an ICT system for the exchange of information regarding weather conditions, water resources and climate types.

The World Bank supports governments in implementing competition policies and regulation for the ICT sector. In addition to the above, the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) reviews the efforts of member countries from this community to strengthen access to information.

CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) manages the ICT project with the collection and exchange of scientific data in the management of nuclear energy. Lastly, UNESCO and ITU, at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva 2003 and then in Tunis 2005, seek the integral development of the individual, with the development of ICT skills being one of their priorities through the Ceibal plan created in 2007 which aims to give equal opportunities to everyone through access to technology.

In military education, e-learning and simulation technologies provide solid tools for the preparation of military members, without forgetting that “achieving the development of competencies for the handling of information in virtual learning environments, the guidance of the teachers and the peers themselves is of great importance” (Alba & Orrego, 2013, pg. 114). The U.S. Army, through West Point, is the main driving force behind the development, use of e-learning and simulation technologies, investing billions of dollars in these programs.

Major investments in new educational technologies have enabled American cadets to remain motivated in studying in ways not done before. For this, behaviorist approaches are used with better control and management of the knowledge imparted to the subjects (Juhary, 2010).

The U.S. regiment built its twelve principles of knowledge management including policies ranging from the incentivized incorporation of knowledge with media such as podcasts, videos and simulations, to mandatory training (Byrne & Bannister, 2013). The military operations of networks, information technology and ICT are intertwined at the micro and macro organizational levels of the armed forces, emphasizing that the processes of use of force, support and generation of results are focused on their systems (Mattila & Parkinson, 2017).

The motivation to carry out academic activities in Latin societies stands out along with the student’s concentration when immersed in a world where ICT are used, due to the animated dynamic and interactive possibilities of these tools. (Sunkel, 2010) This means that the way in which information is presented to cabin boys influences their learning disposition. In Colombia, five skills were specified for teachers to properly manage ICT: technological, communicative, pedagogical, managerial and research (MEN, 2013), with full knowledge in technological tools, from their functioning, validity and regulations perspective.

The reason for its use, and the way it will be implemented in the classroom, must be clear. This is to say, there must be prior planning that includes the communication method to be used for these processes to enable new knowledge to be integrated into the student’s previous experience. The teaching function in NONS is therefore framed within a continuous and integral pedagogical formative process, which sizes the management of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge through ICT and other means that enable the student’s social and academic transformation (ENSB, 2016).

NONS professors have been working in modeling by using algorithms that enable naval objects, machines and tools to be visualized, facilitating the instructions given to the cabin boys in the machinery and equipment parts used in the Colombian Navy (Álvarez, 2014). AR ³ provides the details in handling plans, ships and airplane analysis, enabling the cabin boys to become more involved in their preparation, and therefore, receive significant learning foundations which, in this situation, are hard to achieve without the technology’s help.

Method

The proposed objective of this research is performing an ICT diagnosis for the use of the teaching process in the NONS’s Electromechanical technology.

Participants

The population is made up of 24 NONS Electromechanical technology teachers with different undergraduate and postgraduate academic training. They are also composed of 2 completely differentiated groups: 14 civilian teachers with extensive experience in secondary and higher education formative fields, knowledgeable in different pedagogical strategies to impact the cabin boys’ learning; and 10 military personnel (some of them working in Electromechanical Technology and others on support belonging to another technology) with specific knowledge and skills in a work area, and knowledgeable in the diverse needs presented in the different naval and terrestrial units of the Colombian National Navy.

Of these 24 teachers, there are 12 (50% of the study population) whose subjects are directly related to the use of those ICT involved in this study. We also work with the Electromechanical Technology program chiefs, who themselves are two non-commissioned officers with extensive experience and knowledge in the strengths and needs of the Colombian National Navy, first and second year cabin boys with emphasis on Motors, Electrical Controls and Refrigeration who are in permanent contact with teachers, the Head of the Statistics Department who is responsible for handling the notes, the Head of the Telematics Department who is in charge of the institution’s hardware and software structure, the librarians who handle information regarding texts, magazines, platform and databases, the Head of the Instructional Assistance Department, other non-commissioned officers who directly or indirectly relate to this technology, and the Academic Dean.

³Augmented Reality

Design

The research method used is quantitative, which relies on deductive statistical tools. This approach presents several useful sequential characteristics applicable to the field of research with which a problem of delimited and concrete study is set out by carrying out specific questions with the proposal of the hypotheses from the researcher’s part: the use of ICT improves the teaching process in NONS Electromechanical technology; when ICT tools are available in NONS Electromechanical technology, some of the teacher’s academic activities are facilitated, with the incorporation of ICT in NONS Electromechanical technology favoring the teacher’s collaborative work. The answers are obtained with their respective demonstration and inferences to other teachers in technology and the institution from a selected sample of the population.

We seek maximum control in order to exclude other possible explanations based on uncertainty and to minimize the error generated during the process. The predictions proposed are based on previous studies and it is clear that the phenomena observed should not be subjective and, therefore, follow a determined and structured pattern.

Data collected are within the standards of validity and reliability required in scientific research work, using deductive reasoning from educational theories, ICT principles and military training requirements that are transformed into hypotheses for subsequent testing (Hernández, Fernández, & Baptista, 2010). The aim is to identify the causal laws present in ICT teaching in NONS Electromechanical Technology, which is shown as a reality external to the individual.

Instruments and Techniques

The survey used is reliable, which means that, when it is applied to the same individual under the same conditions, it generates the same results. In addition, we compile the information handled by the Statistics Department with respect to the evaluations carried out by the cabin boys about the teachers on the subjects taught, the program chiefs who carry out the annual performance evaluation, and the Telematics Department, in whose formats the hardware and software infrastructure of the institution is recorded.

The teacher’s preparatory conditions were measured with respect to ICT and the way they perceive them in their academic activities thanks to the survey. The survey was developed in stages from 2013 in the Electronics program and modified and adapted in 2016 to Electromechanical Technology and evaluated by an interdisciplinary group of experts in 2017. Subsequently, thanks to the information provided by the Statistics Department, data was obtained on the assessment periods that the cabin boys carry out on the teachers according to the subjects that they teach, for which a representative sample was taken, and where they were asked to respond to a questionnaire designed for this purpose.

With the annual performance evaluation that the program managers carry out on the teachers, information was obtained referring to the strengths, the aspects to be improved, achieving the objectives, and overall performance. Lastly, the documents provided by the Telematics Department obtained data on network capacity, computer equipment and the technological tools that teachers have access to, as well as any installed software and databases.

Procedure

The information used for this research was collected through an action defined by stages: firstly, the questionnaire was developed with closed-ended questions aimed at understanding the teachers’ training in ICT. Secondly, it was used Likert type questions in order to identify their perception regarding the handling of these technologies. A sample of 12 of the 24 teachers in Electromechanical Technology was subsequently selected according to the subjects taught and the level of involvement in the use of ICT, providing them with a discussion on the importance of their work. The survey, designed in Google Forms, was then delivered to their emails.

A meeting was later held with the non-commissioned officer in charge of data management in the Statistics Department, who consulted its sources and provided all teachers with information on the assessment carried out by the cabin boys. The researcher selected the relevant information from the Electromechanical Technology for further analysis. A meeting was consequently arranged with the program managers to provide the annual performance evaluation data to the technology teachers who provided the information used in this work.

Based on the foregoing, the Head of the Telematics Department compiled information on the databases, hardware and software installed in the institution. Lastly, the collected information was processed, enabling identifying the dependency relationships among variables. So, this led to the verification of the proposed research hypotheses.

Results

The following is an analysis of the results obtained during the research established in the NONS.

The following factors are considered in Table 1 which corresponds to the teachers’ evaluation of Electromechanical Technology for the first module for 2017 by the cabin boys: Knowledge of the discipline, planning of the workshop, learning environment, strategies, methods and skills, motivation, assessment, communication, course management, information and communication technologies, general satisfaction. We can see that the minimum score achieved over 5.0 was 4.5 in the Damage Control and Thermal Engine subjects and the maximum was 4.9 in the following subjects: Converters, Alternative Engines, and Automation and Principles. Such results indicate that the cabin boys considered that a high level was maintained during the instruction given to them in this module’s subjects probably due to the fact that they most likely enjoyed the way in which the academic activities were carried out.

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