TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ON FACEBOOK: COLLABORATION AS A WAY OF POTENTIATING AGENCY

ABSTRACT:

The aim of this study is to describe how the use of Facebook groups influence teachers and students to become collaborative agents. In order to understand how such process occurs, this article follows the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory principles (LEONTIEV, 1978; VYGOTSKY, 1987; ENGESTRÖM, 2015), and is methodologically based on the Critical Collaborative Research (MAGALHÃES, 1998). Data used in this study was collected from the newsfeed of six groups on Facebook, one group being composed by teachers and five groups with teachers and students, and from questionnaires that were answered by teachers and students in different moments. Data was analyzed following the socio-discursive interactionism (BRONCKART, 1999) and conversational analysis (KERBRAT-ORECCHIONI, 2006). Our results suggest that participants present an evolution in relation to agency and, due to the collaborative aspect of the research, it was possible to expand the activities beyond the initial research goals.

KEYWORDS:
Collaboration; Online groups; Collaborative agency; Expansion