Research Article

Technology integration in indigenous schools without Internet access

Sofía Rocha-Castillo 1 , Cynthia Pasquel-López 1 * , Yolanda Heredia-Escorza 1 *
More Detail
1 Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, NL, MEXICO* Corresponding Author
Contemporary Educational Technology, 17(2), April 2025, ep566, https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15945
Published Online: 11 February 2025, Published: 01 April 2025
OPEN ACCESS   3255 Views   2417 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Evidence indicates that the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education improves knowledge acquisition, reduces socioeconomic disparities, fosters autonomous learning, and develops problem-solving and collaboration skills. Teachers and their professional development play a crucial role in facilitating an effective process and redefining perceptions of ICT in education. The study aimed to examine the implementation of a technological integration initiative in rural, indigenous, bilingual, and multi-grade elementary schools in Chiapas. The study used an action research approach and considered a social intervention. The participants were 166 students from 1-6 grades of primary school, some in single grade, others in multi-grade, and six teachers. We use a variety of action research techniques: participant observation, active listening, in-depth interviews, and teacher surveys. The results suggest that the acceptance and application of educational technology vary among teachers, showing an inconsistent level of adoption at the pedagogical level. It was revealed that, although the integration of technological tools in pedagogical practices tends to be positively accepted, in this case, it has not been fully assimilated with the ease, naturalness, and enthusiasm expected in its daily application. The implementation of this initiative demonstrates the importance of adapting educational innovation projects to the specific needs and characteristics of communities to develop culturally relevant projects.
Keywords: technology-based learning, indigenous education, impact evaluation, technology integration

CITATION (APA)

Rocha-Castillo, S., Pasquel-López, C., & Heredia-Escorza, Y. (2025). Technology integration in indigenous schools without Internet access. Contemporary Educational Technology, 17(2), ep566. https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/15945

REFERENCES

  1. Aguilar Ortega, T. (2016). Desigualdad y marginación en Chiapas [Inequality and marginalization in Chiapas]. Península, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsla.2015.08.011
  2. Alvarez-Quiroz, G. B., & Blanquicett Romero, J. C. (2015). Percepciones de los docentes rurales sobre las TIC en sus prácticas pedagógicas [Rural teachers’ perceptions of ICT in their teaching practices]. Ciencia, Docencia y Tecnología, 51, 371–394.
  3. Arias, E., & Cristiá, J. (2014). El BID y la tecnología para mejorar el aprendizaje: ¿Cómo promover programas efectivos? [IDB and technology to improve learning: How to promote effective programs?]. Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0010691
  4. Ballesta Pagán, F. (2015). Los centros educativos ante el desafío de las tecnologías digitales [Educational centers facing the challenge of digital technologies]. La Muralla.
  5. Bitner, N., Bitner, N., & Bitner, J. (2002). Integrating technology into the classroom: Eight keys to success. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(1), 95–100.
  6. Blanchard, M. R., LePrevost, C. E., Tolin, A. D., & Gutierrez, K. S. (2016). Investigating technology-enhanced teacher professional development in rural, high-poverty middle schools. Educational Researcher, 45(3), 207–220. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16644602
  7. Cabero Almenara, J., & Martínez Gimeno, A. (2019). Las TIC y la formación inicial de los docentes. Modelos y competencias digitales [ICT and initial teacher training. Digital models and skills]. Profesorado, Revista de Currículum y Formación del Profesorado, 23(3), 247–268. https://doi.org/10.30827/profesorado.v23i3.9421
  8. Colás Bravo, M. P., de Pablos Pons, J., & Pagán Ballesta, J. (2018). Incidencia de las TIC en la enseñanza en el sistema educativo Español: Una revisión de la investigación [Impact of ICT in teaching in the Spanish educational system: A review of the research]. Revista de Educación a Distancia, 18(56), 32–33. https://doi.org/10.6018/red/56/2
  9. Colorado-Aguilar, B. L., & Edel-Navarro, R. (2012). La usabilidad de TIC en la práctica educativa [Usability of ICT in educational practice]. Revista de Educación a Distancia, 30, 1–11.
  10. Corcoran, K. (2024). Race and ethnicity in the media: Why representation matters. Action For Children. https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/blog/race-and-ethnicity-representation-in-the-media/
  11. Cruz-Carbonell, V., Hernández-Arias, Á. F., & Silva-Arias, A. C. (2020). Cobertura de las TIC en la educación básica rural y urbana en Colombia [ICT coverage in rural and urban basic education in Colombia]. Revista Científica Profundidad Construyendo Futuro, 13(13), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.22463/24221783.2578
  12. Davis, M., & Hall, C. (2018). Technology integration professional development for rural educators. In T. Bastiaens, J. Van Braak, M. Brown, L. Cantoni, M. Castro, R. Christensen, G. Davidson-Shivers, K. DePryck, M. Ebner, M. Fominykh, C. Fulford, S. Hatzipanagos, G. Knezek, K. Kreijns, G. Marks, E. Sointu, E. Korsgaard Sorensen, J. Viteli, J. Voogt, …, & O Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology (vol. 2018, issue 1, pp. 1808–1817). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education.
  13. DeWalt, K. M., & DeWalt, B. R. (2010). Participant observation: A guide for fieldworkers. AltaMira Press.
  14. Espinoza Freire, E. E., Jaramillo Martínez, M., Cun Jaramillo, J., & Pambi Encalada, R. (2018). La implementación de las TIC en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje [The implementation of ICT in the teaching-learning process]. Revista Metropolitana de Ciencias Aplicadas, 1(3), 10–17. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=721778097003
  15. García-Valcárcel Muñoz, A., Francisco, R., & Tejedor, J. T. (2010). Evaluación de procesos de innovación escolar basados en el uso de las TIC desarrollados en la Comunidad de Castilla y León [Evaluation of school innovation processes based on the use of ICT developed in the Community of Castilla and León]. Revista de Educación, 352, 125–147.
  16. Goodpaster, K. P. S., Adedokun, O. A., & Weaver, G. C. (2012). Teachers’ perceptions of rural STEM teaching: Implications for rural teacher retention. The Rural Educator, 33(3), 9–22. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v33i3.408
  17. Holden, H., & Rada, R. (2011). Understanding the influence of perceived usability and technology self-efficacy on teachers’ technology acceptance. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 43(4), 343–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2011.10782576
  18. INEGI. (2020a). Educación [Education]. INEGI. https://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/monografias/informacion/chis/poblacion/educacion.aspx?tema=me&e=07
  19. INEGI. (2020b). Población de 3 años y más hablante de lengua indígena tsotsil por entidad federativa según sexo, años censales de 2010 y 2020 [Population aged 3 years and older who speak the indigenous Tsotsil language by federal entity according to sex, census years 2010 and 2020]. INEGI. https://www.inegi.org.mx/app/tabulados/interactivos/?pxq=LenguaIndigena_Lengua_08_f961f19c-2de8-4edb-b152-517d17287279&idrt=132&opc=t
  20. Juárez Bolaños, D. (2017). Percepciones de docentes rurales multigrado en México y El Salvador [Perceptions of multigrade rural teachers in Mexico and El Salvador]. Sinéctica, 49. https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1665-109X2017000200002
  21. Kalonde, G. (2017). Technology use in rural schools: A study of a rural high school trying to use iPads in the classroom. Rural Educator, 38(3), 27–38. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v38i3.218
  22. Kormos, E., & Wisdom, K. (2021). Rural schools and the digital divide. Theory & Practice in Rural Education, 11(1), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2021.v11n1p25-39
  23. Krug, S. (2006). No me hagas pensar: Una aproximación a la usabilidad web [Don’t make me think: An approach to web usability]. Pearson.
  24. Ley, T., Tammets, K., Sarmiento-Márquez, E. M., Leoste, J., Hallik, M., & Poom-Valickis, K. (2022). Adopting technology in schools: Modelling, measuring and supporting knowledge appropriation. European Journal of Teacher Education, 45(4), 548–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2021.1937113
  25. Louw, S., Watson, R., & Jimarkon, P. (2018). Active listening in qualitative research interviews. In Proceedings of the International Conference: Doing Research in Applied Linguistics.
  26. Martínez Buenabad, E. (2015). La educación intercultural y bilingüe (EIB) en México. ¿El camino hacia la construcción de una ciudadanía democrática? [Intercultural and bilingual education (IBE) in Mexico: the path to building democratic citizenship?] Estudios de Historia y Sociedad, 36(141), 103–131. https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v36i141.92
  27. Mato Vázquez, D., & Álvarez-Seoane, D. (2019). La implementación de TIC y MDD en la práctica docente de educación primaria [The implementation of ICT and MDD in primary education teaching practice]. Campus Virtuales, 8(2), 73–84.
  28. Mejoredu. (2022). Los campos formativos para comprender y transformar nuestra realidad [Training fields to understand and transform our reality]. Mojeredu. https://www.mejoredu.gob.mx/images/publicaciones/fasciculo3_aprendamos-comunidad.pdf
  29. Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). Jossey Bass.
  30. Nielsen, J., & Loranger, Hoa. (2006). Prioritizing web usability. New Riders Press.
  31. Nieto, N. (2018). Postcolonialism and social exclusion of indigenous people in Mexico. Revista Debates, 12(1), 129–150. https://doi.org/10.22456/1982-5269.75044
  32. Nieves-Pizarro, Y. (2018). The representation of Latin@s in media: A negation of blackness. PALARA, 22, 29–38. https://doi.org/10.32855/palara.2018.004
  33. Párraga-Salvatierra, N., San Andrés-Laz, E., & Pazmiño-Campuzano, M. (2021). Las TIC como ayuda pedagógica en los resultados docentes de educación básica superior [ICT as a pedagogical aid in teaching results in higher basic education]. Polo del Conocimiento, 6(11), 1210–1227.
  34. Pérez, L. S. (2023). Fomento de la lectoescritura en la lengua-cultura Tsotsil a través del uso de cuentos, leyendas y adivinanzas como recursos didácticos en la educación primaria bilingüe [Promoting literacy in the Tsotsil language-culture through the use of stories, legends and riddles as teaching resources in bilingual primary education] [Master’s thesis, Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas].
  35. Pinto Santos, Peña, C., & Camargo, A. (2017). Hacia la transformación de la práctica docente: Modelo espiral de competencias TICTACTEP [Towards the transformation of teaching practice: TICTACTEP spiral competency model]. Revista de Medios y Educación, 51, 37–51. https://doi.org/10.12795/pixelbit.2017.i51.03
  36. Ramírez-Ramírez, L. N., Claudio-Martínez, C., & Ramírez-Arias, V. (2020). Usabilidad de las TIC en la enseñanza secundaria: Investigación-acción con docentes y estudiantes de México [Usability of ICT in secondary education: Action research with teachers and students in Mexico]. Revista Científica Hallazgos21, 5(1), 85–101.
  37. Ramón, J. A., & Vilchez, J. (2019). Tecnología etnico-digital: Recursos didácticos convergentes en el desarrollo de competencias matemáticas en los estudiantes de zona rural [Ethnic-digital technology: Convergent teaching resources for the development of mathematical skills in rural students]. Información Tecnológica, 30(3), 257–268. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-07642019000300257
  38. Ruiz Ruiz, M. (2020). Análisis de la competencia digital docente del profesorado de colegios rurales agrupado de la Provincia de Albacete [Analysis of the digital teaching competence of rural school teachers grouped in the Province of Albacete]. Revista Interuniversitaria de Investigación en Tecnología Educativa, (8). https://doi.org/10.6018/riite.395721
  39. Saiz Sáenz, M. L., Jacome, R. T., & Caraballo, L. H. (2023). Las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones y la educación rural en tiempos de pandemia [Information and communications technologies and rural education in times of pandemic]. Revista UNIMAR, 41(1), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.31948/Rev.unimar/unimar41-1-art2
  40. Salcedo, G. M. (2017). Ética de la investigación desde el pensamiento indígena: Derechos colectivos y el principio de la comunalidad [Research ethics from indigenous thought: Collective rights and the principle of communality]. Revista de Bioética y Derecho, 41, 141–159.
  41. Scharmer, C. O., & Foz Casals, M. (2017). Teoría U: Liderar desde el futuro a medida que emerge: Tecnología social de la presenciación [Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges: Social technology of witnessing]. Elefthería.
  42. Schmelkes, S., & Aguila, G. (2019). La educación multigrado [Multigrade education]. Mejoredu. https://www.inee.edu.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/La-Educacio%CC%81n-Multigrado_BIS.pdf
  43. Segura García, M. P., Solano Fernández, I. M., & Sánchez Vera, M. (2018). Uso didáctico de las TIC en los colegios rurales agrupados de la Región de Murcia [Educational use of ICT in rural schools in the Region of Murcia]. Revista Interuniversitaria de Investigación en Tecnología Educativa, (5), 102–115. https://doi.org/10.6018/riite/2018/343771
  44. Soto Arango, D. E., & Molina Pacheco, L. E. (2018). La escuela rural en Colombia como escenario de implementación de TIC [Rural schools in Colombia as a scenario for the implementation of ICT]. Saber, Ciencia y Libertad, 13(1), 275–289. https://doi.org/10.18041/2382-3240/saber.2018v13n1.2086
  45. UNDP. (2022). Informe de desarrollo humano municipal 2010-2020: Una década de transformaciones locales en México [Municipal human development report 2010-2020: A decade of local transformations in Mexico]. UNDP. https://www.undp.org/es/mexico/publicaciones/informe-de-desarrollo-humano-municipal-2010-2020-una-decada-de-transformaciones-locales-en-mexico-0
  46. UNIR. (2022). ¿Qué es la diversidad educativa? [What is educational diversity?]. UNIR. https://www.unir.net/educacion/revista/diversidad-educativa/
  47. Vergara Fregoso, M. (2021). De la educación indígena a la educación intercultural en México, Colombia y Guatemala. Debates, reflexiones y retos [From indigenous education to intercultural education in Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala. Debates, reflections and challenges]. Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana, 26(95), 11–24. https://www.redalyc.org/comocitar.oa?id=27968419001
  48. Vlasenko, K. V., Volkov, S. V., Lovianova, I. V., Sitak, I. V., Chumak, O. O., & Bohdanova, N. H. (2023). Exploring usability principles for educational online courses: A case study on an open platform for online education. Educational Technology Quarterly, 2023(2), 173–187. https://doi.org/10.55056/etq.602