Abstract

MAIA, Fabio  and  STRUCHINER, Miriam. The use of weblogs and orkut communities as pedagogical tools in courses in the health area. Interface (Botucatu) [online]. 2010, vol.14, n.35, pp. 905-918.  Epub Sep 08, 2010. ISSN 1414-3283.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1414-32832010005000025.

This article discusses possibilities of the pedagogical use of Web 2.0 tools in courses in the health area. A research was conducted to identify weblogs and orkut communities that could be used as learning objects. Based on this material, a study was carried out with a group of Medical Psychology professors to examine their perceptions about the contributions of these tools to the development of pedagogical strategies. The results showed that these tools have the potential for being used as pedagogical resources. It was possible to identify different applications of these resources to Medical education as well as positive and negative aspects related to their use in the educational process. Finally, we concluded that the use of these tools favors the development of activities that value subjectivity in medical practice and allows new ways of putting students in contact with illness and patients' treatment experiences.

Keywords : Social software; Blogs; Educational technology; Medical education.