The pandemic and the year we teach on WhatsApp: the most used technological resource in poor high schools in Bahia Blanca during 2020

Abstract

The appearance of Covid-19 around the world generated a massive closure of schools during 2020, however the teaching staff continued teaching through distance education, adapting various strategies according to their possibilities. This paper analyzes the educational consequences of the pandemic in Argentine secondary education during its first year and what Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) were used by teachers and students, in a context of educational segregation. The research consists of a descriptive study using a qualitative method based on interviews with teachers and directors of the secondary level of the city of Bahía Blanca, who were asked about perceptions and experiences around the different technological methods of education used during the study. school year 2020. The results of the research reveal a relationship between the socioeconomic conditions of the students and the tools used by their teachers. In particular, the use of the WhatsApp application stands out, which is reduced to the only technology available to the majority of students who attend the poorest secondary schools, since for them the cell phone was their only means of educational connection.