Information And Communication Technologies In Primary School With Magalhães Computer. A New Reality For Portuguese Families?

In Portugal over the last three decades, there has been a number of governmental initiatives – mostlycoming from the Ministry of Education (ME) – promoting and supporting the use of Information andCommunication Technologies (ICT) in education, the latest being the Technological Plan for Education(PTE) starting in 2007. One of its main objectives is to promote equal opportunities in access tocomputers and the Internet.The “e-escolinhas” (literally “e-little schools”) initiative became a part of the PTE and aims towidespread the use of computers and the Internet in primary schools by supplying students (and theirfamilies) a subsidized laptop computer. This paper presents early findings of a case study conductedat a Portuguese primary school looking for changes in educational practice using ICT through the“Magalhães” laptop computer (a Portuguese branded Intel Classmate, named after the famous XVthcentury navigator Fernando de Magalhães), which was widely distributed to primary students
Keywords: Laptops, Magalhães computer, primary education, students, teachers.